STEVE Bruce’s bold transfer plans are being hampered by orders to slash the wage bill before negotiations can begin with Charles N’Zogbia and Ji Dong-Won. The Black Cats have already lined up four ambitious signings with David Ngog set to arrive from Liverpool as part of the £19.25m deal which took Jordan Henderson to Anfield last week, and a £12m offer for Manchester United trio Darron Gibson, John O’Shea and Wes Brown also accepted. Ngog will sign for Sunderland when he and his agent return from holiday. Gibson, meanwhile, has already publicly revealed his attraction to the proposed move to Wearside. Bruce remains confident O’Shea and Brown will also be tempted by the switch, particularly as Sir Alex Ferguson has accepted an offer so quickly for players who are never going to be first choice at Old Trafford. All four could be in place before the squad returns for pre-season training next month, but Bruce will have to concentrate on getting players out of the door if he is going to land his other targets. The departure of four of last season’s loanees – Nedum Onuoha, Danny Welbeck, John Mensah and Sulley Muntari – and the out-of-contract Bolo Zenden, freed up places on the wage bill for the incoming four. But owner Ellis Short is still concerned about a level of player pay which already accounts for over 72% of the club’s annual turnover and would like to see that figure reduced, not increased, by the time Bruce finishes his summer transfer business. That could mean unexpected departures for Steed Malbranque and Craig Gordon, who both have one year left on their contracts and are yet to be offered new ones. The Journal understands Malbranque’s agent has been touting his name around Europe to see if there is any interest in the 31-year-old, while Gordon’s injury problems, along with Sunderland’s interest in Coventry City’s stopper Keiren Westwood on a Bosman-style free transfer, seem to make the Scotland international keeper vulnerable. Comments (5)Recommend (3) Bruce would prefer not to let either of them go, but he needs to give himself some room to manoeuvre financially, if he is to complete other objectives in the transfer window – and at least one could move on. Sunderland’s need for another striker is obvious and Ji has caught the eye of the Black Cats hierarchy, along with Ipswich Town’s exciting prospect Connor Wickham and Tottenham’s Peter Crouch. But with Liverpool able to offer higher wages to Wickham, and concerns about how long it will take Ji – even if the fee is relatively small – to adapt to English conditions, Sunderland are finding it difficult to finalise moves. Bruce is still determined to get N’Zogbia from Wigan, despite the player’s wage demands of more than £55,000 a week, but he knows Sunderland will need to sell before he can buy again and that could spell the end for Malbranque, who is on a similar sort of pay scale at the moment. Although Henderson has been removed from the wage bill, the 20-year-old was only earning £20,000 a week, the sort of figure Ngog will be looking for when he signs, which means the Black Cats desperately need to cut away expensive dead wood. George McCartney and Anton Ferdinand still have one year left on their £40,000-a-week contracts, while Nyron Nosworthy is another who Bruce wants to ship out to make room for new arrivals. Matthew Kilgallon, Cristian Riveros – linked with Corinthians and Sporting Gijon over the weekend – and Marcos Angeleri are the other three up for sale, although as with last year, Sunderland may have to make do with loan moves for some of them and at least some reduction in how much they cost. Bruce will look to sell long before he resorts to sending players out on loan again, although the most likely players to attract a fee are flops Riveros and Angeleri as their reputations have not been damaged in South America by their disappointments in England. Meanwhile, Sunderland target David Vaughan has turned down a new contract at Blackpool and has confirmed he will leave on a free transfer. The 28-year-old Wales international is also wanted by West Brom, but he is rumoured to have already travelled to Wearside to take a look around Sunderland’s training ground. Another potential target at the relegated Seasiders is striker DJ Campbell, who was signed by Bruce when he was at Birmingham, and is understood to have a £1.25m release clause in his contract. Makes no sense, sell the cheepos, although crap, bring in nearly a full team on top dollar, this ones beyond me.
I don't know this as a fact but I've heard a few times all the top paid players signed contracts during Keane's era, Gordon, Richarson, Malbranque etc. Wouldn't be too surprised if quite a few of these moved on in the summer
