Sunday's News of the World say Sunderland are lining up a £12m deal for Spurs striker Robbie Keane.

Keane - who scored against Sunderland last month - seems to have fallen out of favour with Tottenham chief Harry Redknapp and could be available in January.

The 29-year-old Republic of Ireland international is reportedly also interesting Aston Villa and Scottish side Celtic.

Meanwhile the same paper also links Bruce with £3m-rated midfielder Radosav Petrovic, currently with Partizan Belgrade.

The Serbian international is primarily a defensive midfielder and could be joined at the Stadium of Light by Portuguese midfielder Ukra.

The 21-year-old is currently on loan from Porto at SC Olhanense and has reportedly impressed Sunderland's spies.

According to the Sunday Mirror, Bruce is also chasing targets closer to home, namely Wigan's Titus Bramble.

The pair previously worked together when Bruce was in charge of the Lancashire club, and the paper reports Bramble could be available for around £6m.

And The People's Hotline column says Sunderland and Wigan are fighting it out over Ecuador defender Jorge Guagua, who is currently a free agent.

Finally, Sunderland striker Darren Bent has revealed his fear of spiders and a 'close friend' says he would even consider hypnotherapy to beat the jitters.

Spiders are common in South Africa - where Bent hopes to be for the World Cup. "I can't stand spiders. They are so creepy," he said.