SUNDERLAND will be made to wait by Spurs in their bid to broker a loan deal for Nico Kranjcar – despite finally managing to unload Northern Ireland flop George McCartney.

McCartney has re-joined West Ham on a season-long loan, bringing to end a disastrous second spell at the Stadium of Light – where the suspicion is he was never truly sold on returning to the North East in the first place.

Signed by Roy Keane in a £7million deal in 2008, McCartney was viewed as a major part of the side the then Black Cats boss wanted to “move on a level”.

However, despite playing regularly under Keane, he lost his place when Bruce took over. As one of the biggest earners in the squad, his departure will free up wages and funds for the Sunderland boss to finally add the left-sided player he believes is the final piece of the Black Cats jigsaw.

Kranjcar is one of Bruce’s top targets but initial enquiries with Tottenham have been unsuccessful.

Spurs will not move the talented Croatia international on until Harry Redknapp can make further additions to his squad – and even then they would prefer to negotiate a permanent deal with interested parties.

Sunderland want a temporary switch but they will have to sit tight until the end of the transfer window.

That scenario is also confronting them in their bid for Manchester City’s unwanted forward Craig Bellamy.

The Sunderland boss confirmed he was still on the lookout for potential recruits with sufficient quality to add to his squad.