Found this story, may interest you. Kevin Gameiro, although it looks like we will miss out on him, it still looks good for us if this is the type of player we are looking at, as iv'e heard good things about him, and not a bad start for bruce to look at. Another name mentioned here is Bradley Johnson at leeds? never heard of him, any one know owt... But it seems like bruce has his fingers in many pies (literally) Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is confident he will add at least two free signings in the next week but he looks set to miss out on Lorient striker Kevin Gameiro. Bruce and his scouting team have been watching a host of targets who will be available on Bosman frees at the end of the month, with Birmingham midfielder Seb Larsson and Blackpoolââ¬â¢s David Vaughan at the top of his list since January. Cardiff City striker Jay Bothroyd, who looks certain to leave the Welsh club after their Championship play-off exit, has also been constantly monitored by Sunderland, although there is competition from Newcastle for his signature. Target: Blackpool's David Vaughan and Birmingham midfielder Seb Larsson are both wanted by Sunderland Leeds midfielder Bradley Johnson has just turned down a three-year deal, which leaves him free to quit Elland Road, and Stoke are expected to release former Norway striker John Carew. But ã12 million-rated France international Gameiro has told his advisers he would prefer a move to Spain if he is to leave Lorient. Villarreal, Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are all interested in Gameiro, who was watched by Bruce and his assistant Eric Black at the weekend.
Gotta accept a couple of bosmans, larsson, bothroyd etc. Not bad players. But like you say good to know he's looking at quality. I think most of his signings have been OK so lets trust his scouting network to deliver.
Bruce's signings is one thing I wouldn't criticize him for. The squad has a lot more quality in it now than it had two years ago. The issue with da Silva couldn't be forseen by either Bruce or da Silva - the only way we could find out he wouldn't like the Prem is for him to come and try it. That was nobody's fault. In fairness to Bruce, Paulo isn't a bad player. The quality in midfield isn't as good as it might be - and if we'd done better with midfield delivery, we might not have lost Bent. But at least now he seems to be looking at midfielders as well as a replacement striker. I won't feel confident about Bruce for at least two years now - I seriously doubt his problem-solving abilities and will always shudder when we hit a blip. But signings? - I've no problem with him there.
In the modern financial football reality for all clubs, there will be cases for free's/Bosmans, loans and big buys. We may well sign up to 6 or 7 players but its my guess that only 2 or 3 will be ã5m+ signings. I dont see us breaking our transfer record at all but I do expect to see quite a bit of volume, in order to bolster a very light squad currently.
Bradley Johnson is slow as ****, he's not a bad player, but he's little above average at Championship level. He's scored a couple of long range rakers this season, if that's how Bruce has scouted him i'll go to Ponteland and poke him in the eye, but i'm sure we won't make this move anyway. He'd be cheap mind, he's only asking for 6k a week to stay at Leeds.
