Sunderland Football Club News

• Nickname:Black Cats
• Founded:1879
• Manager:Martin O'Neill

• Ground:Stadium of light
• Capacity:48,353

Bruce starts to doubt Bent deal

27 Jul 2009 - 10:30:37

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Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has cooled his interest in Darren Bent after suggesting Tottenham are asking too much for the former Charlton Athletic striker.

Bruce turned his attention towards Bent after failing to land Portsmouth's Peter Crouch, who now appears to be on the verge of sealing a transfer to White Hart Lane.

Black Cats boss Bruce said after watching his side beat Atletico Madrid 2-0 in the Amsterdam Tournament: "I don't know if Tottenham's deal for Crouch will help us.

"The Darren Bent deal is one we're visiting but we can't wait around forever. We're still a bit short - way off in terms of valuation at the moment. We'll look at it, but if we can't agree we can't agree.

"We'll move on to the next one because we can't go on forever. We aren't making much headway."

Fraizer Campbell, Paulo Da Silva and Lorik Cana have already moved to Wearside this summer, with Bruce adding: "We have three players there who've chosen Sunderland ahead of other clubs, so I'm very happy with our ability to attract very good players.

"There are four or five weeks to go before the transfer window closes and, while you can't wait and wait for the people you want, we won't be impulsive.

"We're trying not to make any mistakes in the market and I haven't wavered too much from the people I want to get in, but that might have to change."