Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has admitted his disappointment on not being able to bring Adam Johnson to the Stadium Of Light.

 

The England Under-21 winger signed for Manchester City in the final hours of the January transfer window for a fee rumoured to be around £7M. But Bruce confirmed that he was keeping a keen eye on the Middlesbrough academy product and hoped to be able to entice him to remain in his native northeast.

“I’m happy with the business we’ve done, but, yes, I’d have loved to have brought Adam in as well,” said the former Wigan manager “We had him watched two, three, four times and more and he was a player we really liked the look of. He was a local lad as well and I’m sure our fans would have taken him to their hearts but it wasn’t to be.”

One player who did arrive, and from Johnson’s destination of Eastlands, was striker Benjani. The move did not go without problems and Bruce has strongly denied mischievous rumours that Sunderland claimed ’technical problems’ to cover up missing the 5pm deadline. “We’re delighted that Benjani was allowed to join us” he said. “we had genuine technical problems which prevented us getting everything done before 5pm….and, thankfully, they (the Premier League) understood and allowed the deal to go through.”