Source: Telegraph
Sunderland confident of appointing Steve Bruce as their new manager
Despite reports from Italy on Sunday night of the Sunderland post being offered to Roberto Mancini, the former Inter Milan coach, the Wearsiders continue to view Bruce as their No 1 target.
Bruce, who left Birmingham City for Wigan in November 2007, was given permission to speak to Sunderland last week, but a deal has yet to be agreed, prompting Whelan to set a deadline of last night for an agreement to be reached.
Whelan is holding out for a £3 million compensation fee for Bruce, but Sunderland are keen to negotiate a smaller 'transfer fee' for the former Sheffield United, Huddersfield and Crystal Palace manager to succeed Ricky Sbragia.
Whelan, who paid an identical sum to Birmingham when recruiting Bruce, insists that the £3 million fee is justified considering Bruce's success during his time at the JJB Stadium.
Whelan said: "I paid Birmingham a compensation fee and I think it is only fair that they [Sunderland] buy his contract out. I paid Birmingham £3 million and I am asking for the same amount back.
"There are a lot of managers on the market at the moment you can get for nothing. It depends whether Sunderland feel they want to pay £3 million. If they want real, real quality managers, Steve is up there.
"I said to Steve and to [Sunderland chairman] Niall Quinn that if you are going to do a deal, do it quickly. Niall spoke to me and said, 'I understand we can't mess about on this and by Sunday evening we will have a decision for you'."
Despite Sunderland's failure to finalise a deal for Bruce on Sunday, the club are confident of being able to resolve the situation by the middle of this week.
Bruce's departure would leave Whelan searching for his fourth manager since Wigan's promotion to the Premier League in 2005.
Swansea City manager Roberto Martinez, a former Wigan
midfielder, and Peterborough United's Darren Ferguson have already been linked with the post at the JJB Stadium.
But Whelan has insisted that he will initially seek applicants for the job if Bruce chooses to accept the Sunderland position.
He added that thinking of a successor "is not something I do. I just wait to see what the outcome is and then face reality. If we've got to get a new manager, we'll advertise and we'll have 20 applications in and there will be some good lads among them".
