Sunderland close on Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is set to land Roman Pavlyuchenko from Tottenham as a replacement for Darren Bent. Spurs boss Harry Redknapp dashed Bruce's hopes of his first choice, Peter Crouch, but has indicated that he is ready to part with Pavlyuchenko. Redknapp said on Friday: 'I don't want to sell Pav but if someone made the right offer andhe wanted to move, I am sure it is something that the club will lookat.' Roman's road to Sunderland: Pavlyuchenko could soon be leaving SpursThe Russia international has been offered a new deal by Tottenham, but has said he will not be taking the club up on their offer as he wants to be guaranteed first-team football.'Thecontract offer doesn't suit me,' said Pavlyuchenko. 'And there arerumours: (Emmanuel) Adebayor is coming to us, then (Andy) Carroll fromNewcastle.'If it proves true, I'm not satisfied with being fourth or fifth choice. I don't want to go back to sitting on the bench.'Everton andAston Villa have also expressed an interest in the 29-year-old forward. Blackpool 1 Sunderland 2: Richardson double lifts Black Cats after Bent exitAston Villa 1 Manchester City 0: Bent begins payback with debut winnerAsamoah Gyan and Sunderland prepare for life without Darren BentDes Kelly: Loyalty? Forget Bent. Bruce has jumped ship even more than Jack Sparrow  Explore more:People: Darren Bent, Steve Bruce, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Peter Crouch, Harry Redknapp Places: Russia

Source: Daily_Mail