Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has confirmed his interest in signing Peter Crouch, but admits a fee has not yet been agreed with Portsmouth.
Crouch joined Pompey last summer from Liverpool, but is expected to leave Fratton Park before the start of the season.
Bruce acknowledged he was a fan of the 28-year-old, but admitted that an agreement has yet to be reached.
“He is a player I have admired for a very long time and I suppose a lot of managers do exactly the same thing,” said Bruce.
“As we speak at this particular moment, we are in discussions with the club.
“As far as I am aware – and I’ve just come off the training ground – we are in discussions with the club and that’s as far as it is at the moment.
“But the discussions have been going on now for a few weeks.
“We hope we can try to put something together because he would be the type of player of course that would signal our intention of the way we want to take the football club forward.”
However, asked if a fee had been agreed, Bruce replied: “I don’t understand that just yet, but I have just come off the training ground.
“I haven’t been told anything to the contrary. I will be getting back to work in the next couple of hours and we’ll see.
“I know discussions at high levels were going on late last night, so we’ll see and I’ll be able to tell you more in the next 24 hours.”
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