Peter Crouch

By The Black Cats
July 20 2009

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is getting excited about the prospect of signing England and Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch - Crouch is expected to make his decision in the next 24 hours. and Bruce is remaining hopeful that he'll make the move to wearside.

"We're happy to have agreed a fee with Portsmouth and happy that Peter came up to talk to us about the move," Bruce told the Sunderland Echo.

"We've given it our best shot in trying to convince him that Sunderland and the North East is the right place for him; the right club at the right time.

"And in that sense, we're content that we've done our jobs. Now we can only leave it with him and let him decide.

"I'm convinced that moving to Sunderland would be a great move for him and he would be a great signing for us and I remain hopeful because I'm excited about what we could do with him.

"We won't push him for a decision because it's up to him to make his mind up when he's thought things over.

"But I would expect that we'll probably have some information on how things stand very soon. Something could easily happen in the next 24 hours."