The former Wigan boss has had a frustrating time of things as he looks to sign new defenders and now it seems he could raid his old club to bring in Bramble.

According to the Daily Mail, Bruce is set to pay £5 million for the defender who has revitalised his career in the north-west.

If the move does go ahead, Bramble would be returning to a familiar area of the country - he spent several seasons at Newcastle United.

During his time at St James' park he became infamous for a series of high-profile defensive errors and was widely regarded as something of a flop.

However, he had a much better time of things under Steve Bruce in Wigan and was even given the club's Player of the Year award two seasons ago, meaning he could perhaps boost Sunderland's premier league tournament odds for this season

Whether he does make the switch to Sunderland remains to be seen and it does look like the kind of rumour dreamt up by newspaper hacks - it's always easy to link a manager and player who have worked together before and make it sound convincing.

Still, Bramble does look like the kind of player Sunderland need and with, Sol Campbell stalling over a potential deal, Bruce needs to bring someone in soon or risk going into the Premier League season with a very dodgy looking defence.

Of course, if he does sign his arrival won't be welcomed up the road in Newcastle, where many fans feel Bramble failed to give the side his best. Still, this should only serve to add a little bit of extra bite to this season's north-east derbies and that can't be a bad thing.

Elsehwhere, the championship winning odds are worth a look as the season gets closer. Middlesbrough are the new favourites to win the second tier of English football.