STEVE Bruce will this week step up his attempts to sign Lee Cattermole and Fraizer Campbell now the pair’s seasons have finally come to an end.

Both were part of the England Under-21 squad which reached the final of the European Championships in Sweden on Monday.

Bruce signed midfielder Cattermole for Wigan last summer and came close to landing forward Campbell on loan. Both are thought to figure prominently on his shopping list 12 months on.

The Corbridge-born manager is not expected in his new office until early next week, but would like some new signings secured by then. That is bad news for both Wigan and, to an extent, Campbell.

The Latics are anxious to keep hold of the combative Cattermole, who enhanced his reputation with the Three Lions this summer.

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has already publicly warned off potential suitors for a player he labelled “irreplaceable”.

But Bruce will be hoping to force the issue Sunderland’s way using a combination of Ellis Short’s financial muscle, the lure of returning to the North East a year after Cattermole left his native Middlesbrough, and the prospect of working again with a manager under whose guidance the 21-year-old improved greatly last term.

Whelan’s reluctance, however, would suggest that at best a transfer might be drawn-out.

Bruce is hoping that will not be the case with Campbell, who has been dithering over a move to Hull for some time and seems determined to take his time over the first permanent transfer of his career.

The centre-forward is understood to want to delay negotiations until his return from holiday but seems unlikely to get his way. Hull agreed a £6m fee with Manchester United for the player they took on a successful season-long loan in 2007-08 in early June but their failure to close out a deal has alerted Bruce.