Sunderland set to make official £10m bid for Tottenham striker Peter Crouch

EPL : Peter Crouch, Manchester City v Tottenham

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By Greg Stobart | Northern Correspondent

Sunderland are set to lodge an official £10 million bid for Tottenham striker Peter Crouch, Goal.com can reveal.

Black Cats manager Steve Bruce has made the England international his main summer target and the two clubs held talks on Thursday as Sunderland look to add new players following the £16m sale of Jordan Henderson to Liverpool.

Reports on Friday suggested Tottenham would demand Asamoah Gyan in return, but Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has other plans to rebuild his strikforce despite being an admirer of the Ghanaian.

While Crouch is the striker Redknapp would least like to sell, the Londoners need to create space in the squad to sign new forwards and would be tempted to cash in on a £10m bid.

Bruce values the former Liverpool striker at around £8m but is desperate to sign at least two strikers to join Gyan and Fraizer Campbell, who will be sidelined for most of next season with a knee ligament injury.

The Black Cats did not replace Darren Bent in January following his £18m sale to Aston Villa and Danny Welbeck has returned to Manchester United after a season-long loan at the Stadium of Light.

Bruce is a long-term admirer of Crouch having tried to sign him from Portsmouth in the summer of 2009 before the 30-year-old decided on a £9m move to White Hart Lane instead.

The Sunderland boss believes Crouch, who scored just four Premier League goals last season, can operate as the focal point of his attack and will be a low-risk signing due to his proven Premier League and international experience.

Crouch is under contract until 2014 and insists he is happy to stay at White Hart Lane, but he faces the prospect of being a bit-part player next season as Spurs line up new strikers including Leandro Damiao of Internacional.

Redknapp is also willing to listen to offers for Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko, while Republic of Ireland captain Robbie Keane is expected to leave.

Meanwhile, Sunderland are continuing to work on a deal to sign David Ngog from Liverpool but want the Frenchman for half of the Anfield club’s £7m asking price.

The North East club are also in talks with Darron Gibson, Wes Brown and John O’Shea after a £12m bid for the trio was accepted by Manchester United.