Bruce gets tough with Tottenham over Bent

Jul 27 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

STEVE Bruce has warned Tottenham Hotspur he will not wait around forever to sign Darren Bent as talks between the two clubs broke down last night.

Tottenham are holding out for the £16m they paid Charlton Athletic for the striker two years ago, but Sunderland are believed to have only offered around £12m for the England international.

With former Black Cats target Peter Crouch expected to seal a move to White Hart Lane this week, Bruce hopes that will lead to a breakthrough in the negotiations regarding Bent.

But the former Manchester United centre-back is not willing to be held to ransom and has threatened to walk away from the deal – unless Tottenham are willing to lower their asking price.

“I don’t know if Tottenham’s deal for Peter Crouch will help us,” said Bruce, speaking after Sunderland’s 2-0 win over Atlético Madrid in the Amsterdam Tournament last night.

“It’s one we are visiting, but we can’t wait around forever. We are still short, a long way off in terms of our valuations at the moment.

“We will look at it again, but if we can’t agree, we can’t agree and we will move on.

“We aren’t making headway at the moment and there hasn’t been any progress over the weekend.”

Bruce also revealed there has still not been any movement on the bid to bring the Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh over from Bordeaux and he will hope to make at least one breakthrough this week.

In the meantime, Bruce was happy to focus on the positives from the team’s pre-season

preparations ahead of a week’s training before next weekend’s trip to Celtic.

“I’ve learnt I’ve got some very good players,” said Bruce. “They have worked extremely hard over the last ten days and I’m pleased with them.

“We were trying to get the ball forward early against Atlético Madrid and we have worked on a few things in training, getting into attacking positions quickly, which paid off.

“They did extremely well and, more importantly, the win gives them a little bit of confidence.

“It’s not often you beat a team like Atlético Madrid who are a Champions League team. Things have gone well.”

He continued: “We tried a different formation as well. It was 4-3-3, or 4-5-1, depending on your perception, but a lot of teams play like that nowadays.

“When you play against the big teams the one thing you cannot give them is a lot of space in the middle of the pitch.

“You need bodies in there otherwise they will really hurt you.

“We’ve had a five-man midfield during this tournament and it gives us different options when we play in the Premier League.”

Bruce was particularly pleased with the performance of Kieran Richardson, who scored both Sunderland goals in the confidence-boosting win over Atlético.

He said: “I’ve always kept a close eye on Kieran’s development since I left Manchester United. I have known Kieran since he was 11.

“We know he has terrific ability, but the way he has worked over the last two weeks has been fantastic.

“He has to make sure he maintains those standards. He has set the standard and he has to keep on performing at that level.

“I thought he was terrific. He was very lively in that role and he took his goal well.

“He enjoys playing just off the front man and he dovetailed well with Kenwyne Jones. It was a really nice finish for his second goal.”