Whelan expects at least £3 million for Bruce

Whelan said: "I paid Birmingham a compensation fee and I think it is only fair that they [Sunderland] buy his contract out. I paid Birmingham £3 million and I am asking for the same amount back.

"There are a lot of managers on the market at the moment you can get for nothing. It depends whether Sunderland feel they want to pay £3 million. If they want real, real quality managers, Steve is up there.

"I said to Steve and to [Sunderland chairman] Niall Quinn that if you are going to do a deal, do it quickly."

Quinn also commented that a decision would have been made by Sunday evening, however that deadline has passed without comment from the Black Cats.

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