Big plans brewing in the north-east.

Sports - November 24, 2007

Sunderland are preparing a double raid on Tottenham for David Bentley and Michael Dawson.

Black Cats boss Steve Bruce will tempt Spurs chief Harry Redknapp into doing business with a £16million offer for the pair. And the Spurs gaffer will use that money to step up his pursuit of Chelsea’s England ace Joe Cole.

Bentley, 25 this month, joined Spurs last summer in a £15m switch from Blackburn when Juande Ramos was still in charge. But, following Redknapp’s arrival, he has barely had a look-in. (The People)

Is it me of are Sunderland trying very hard to spend some money this summer? Having already secured intelligent signings Lorik Cana and Frazier Campbell, Steve Bruce is desperate to add even more quality to his attack in the form of David Bentley as well as sealing the club’s leaky defence with a move for Michael Dawson.

Let’s add to the mix the fact the club is consistently being linked to Tottenham‘s forgotten striker Darren Bent with the club’s reportedly just a million pounds difference between the club’s valuation of the White Hart Lane man.

The former Wigan boss will be glad that he has the full financial backing of the club’s American owner Ellis Short and Bruce will be all to aware of the changes needed at the club to help them move from relegation battlers to a top six side. The new boss will not be too used to being given such a big cash injection so will not want to spend needlessly but its clear the club’s biggest problem is in the final third where goals have been hard to come by with the Black Cats managing just 70 in the past two campaigns combined.

In Messrs Bentley and Bent he will be getting two England international keen to prove their doubters wrong and with an eye to getting the attention of Fabio Capello with less than a year to go before the World Cup.

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