Source: Daily_Mail
Bruce supports Bent over Twitter outburst but only rates move as 50-50
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has expressed sympathy for Darren Bent after the Tottenham striker outlined his frustration at the delay over his proposed move to Wearside.
Bruce claims a deal appeared close earlier in the week but would only rate Bent's chances of moving to the Stadium of Light now as '50-50'.
Bent reportedly revealed his disappointment on internet networking site Twitter last night with a rant against Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
Bruce admitted he was unaware of the Twitter but said he understood the player's irritation.
'Someone says Darren has been Twittering,' Bruce told the Sunderland Echo.
'I don't even know what that is, but I have seen a few things in the papers about it.
'Footballers aren't just objects. There's a human being in this who is obviously caught up in the middle and wants his future sorted out. The situation at the moment is that the clubs are still talking.
'We thought we had a deal done a couple of days ago and it has not quite materialised.
'We're still hopeful that we can agree a fee with Spurs, but at the moment there's a couple of other clubs showing an interest.
'We will do our utmost to get the deal over the line. I would say I was really confident that would happen a couple of days ago, but now I'd say it's 50-50.'
Bent's Twitter account was this morning removed.
Bruce has had some success in the transfer market this summer, however, with Lorik Cana his most high-profile acquisition.
And the Albania international today revealed he turned down interest from Everton, as well as German sides Hamburg and Werder Bremen, to move to the north-east from Marseille.
He said: 'I had interest from Germany and we were talking, but then I had contacts with clubs in England and I knew this was the best championship in the world.
'Everton know me very well. I have had interest from them in other years and might have come to England.
'We were talking, but Sunderland came in and I had a good feeling when I spoke to Steve Bruce.
'Sunderland wanted to make things happen quickly and that made me feel wanted by the club very much.
'I can see from the facilities and support that Sunderland has that there are great possibilities here so I look forward to the challenge.'
