Steve Bruce is delighted by Titus Bramble move

Jul 22 2010 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

STEVE Bruce is confident he has pulled off a masterstroke in the transfer market with the capture of Titus Bramble – which has enabled him to end his pursuit of Sol Campbell.

Bruce – whose side drew 1-1 with Brighton last night in a pre-season friendly in Portugal – is absolutely thrilled to have landed the 28-year-old from Wigan in a deal which has seen the Black Cats pay around £1m for the former Newcastle defender.

Sunderland’s manager has spent the last 12 months trying to bring Bramble to the Stadium of Light and he is confident a player who was personally recommended to him by Sir Bobby Robson will be a big hit on Wearside. Although Bramble had a reputation for making high-profile mistakes during his time at Newcastle, Bruce is adamant he is a completely different player to the one who was thrown in at the deep end at St James’ Park.

He said: “He was absolutely outstanding for me for two years at Wigan and it is a fantastic deal for this football club. He was player of the year in my last year there and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him.

“He is a big powerful defender who has played in the Premier League all his life. From about 18 or 19, he has been playing in the top flight.

“He has done extremely well over the last couple of years and I think he is going to be a big success at Sunderland. He was certainly the right player at the right price for me.

“It’s a cracking deal and I’m delighted he is going to be a part of what we are trying to achieve at this football club. He enjoyed playing for me at Wigan and if he can reproduce that form we’ve got some player.”

Bruce has also urged supporters not to read anything into the fact Bramble used to play for Newcastle, or dwell on the mistakes of his past as he pointed to the fact he has been one of most consistent performers in English football at Wigan.

He said: “The fact he played for Newcastle doesn’t mean anything. He’s been away for years. I’ve not got any issue with that at all.

“He’s a very, very good player and a good boy and he’s going to be a huge asset to us.

“He was a young boy when he went there, he was 20 years old playing for a side which qualified for the Champions League twice.

“He made some mistakes, but people forget he was part of an excellent Newcastle side which always played in Europe.

“I remember having a conversation with the late Sir Bobby about him and he said I should have no hesitation going for him.

“As it happened, I ended up working with him at Wigan in the end and Bobby was right. This really is a great deal, it’s fantastic if I’m honest.”

Having secured Bramble, subject to the results of a medical and the finalisation of personal terms, which should be ironed out this morning, Sunderland allowed Nyron Nosworthy to move to Sheffield United on a season’s loan yesterday.

Bramble travelled to Portugal yesterday morning to link up with the rest of the squad. He did not play in last night’s friendly against Brighton but did watch the game from the stands while wearing full Sunderland training kit.

Bruce revealed Bramble’s capture means he is now no longer interested in former England defender Campbell.

Bruce added: “Now that we’ve got Titus, I think that’s it for Sol.

“We had a chat with him and we talked about it, but we’ve got a better deal with Titus coming in.

“We’re not looking to sign Sol Campbell anymore.”