July 13 2002

Steve Bruce

Steve Bruce could be left with a superb amount of egg on his face this week.

With £5m to spend on a forward, the Birmingham boss has been keen to sign Clinton Morrison.

He has also offered £3.3m for Poland's Emmanuel Olisadebe. Both Olisadebe and his club Panathinaikos gratefully accepted the move even though Bruce would prefer Morrison.

Olisadebe said: "I don't care what people say - I want to join Birmingham to achieve success and a place in their starting XI.

"I've had a few offers from other clubs, but nothing concrete. Birmingham's offer is the best I've had."

This all sounds promising. But if Bruce cannot broker a deal for Morrison in the next couple of days, he could lose out on the waiting Olisadebe.

This would give Simon Jordan more bargaining power and Bruce could end up without any of his targeted strikers. Ah, shame.