Steve Bruce has reiterated Sunderland are not even thinking about selling any of their key players this month.
Boss says only 'ridiculous money' will tempt Black Cats to sell
Steve Bruce has reiterated Sunderland are not even thinking about selling any of their key players this month.
Speculation has suggested record signing Asamoah Gyan and emerging England international Jordan Henderson could be the subjects of bids from rival clubs during the January transfer window.
But Bruce, who has been linked with Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson and Charles N'Zogbia, has shrugged off claims he would be prepared to cash in on any of his prized assets at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats chief insists he is looking to build at Sunderland after bringing in the likes of Gyan, Darren Bent, Michael Turner and Titus Bramble during his tenure at the club.
He said: "Absolutely. It would take crazy offers for me to consider anything. The ones who are out on loan are the ones where I would envisage there would be a bit of business to be done.
"But as for the big 'uns we have got, we have worked extremely hard, the chairman and the owner, to get the club in this situation, so the last thing you would want to be doing is dismantling it.
"It would take ridiculous money, absolutely, for us even to think about doing anything."
Daffodils
Those who could move on this month are the likes of George McCartney, David Healy, Nyron Nosworthy, Andy Reid, Matt Kilgallon and Paulo da Silva, who has rejected a move to Mexican club Cruz Azul but also attracted interest from Spain.
Jack Colback's loan spell at Ipswich also comes to an end on 14th January, leaving Bruce with another decision.
In the meantime, the manager will concentrate on trying to secure his side's first back-to-back league wins this season at Aston Villa.
The Black Cats bounced back from a 2-0 home defeat to Blackpool with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Blackburn on Saturday, 24 hours before Villa signalled what they hope will be the start of a fightback with a creditable 3-3 draw at Chelsea.
Bruce said: "To be fair to [Villa boss] Gerard Houllier, he has had a few injuries to his big players. When I saw them the other day, they had that familiar look about them.
"They were big, strong, powerful, they had pace in good areas. If you finish sixth in the Premier League for the last three years you are a good team, and he had most of them playing the other day."
With Bent, Gyan and Danny Welbeck all scoring against Rovers four days after firing blanks on Blackpool's visit to the Stadium of Light, Sunderland head for Villa in form and riding high in the table, although Bruce is simply refusing to countenance talk of European qualification.
He said: "We are not going to get carried away. We have got some important games coming up and, if we can maintain it and stay injury-free, then we might have a chance.
"But ask me again in another three months' time when the daffodils start to appear."
