Bruce ups the stakes in Pennant pursuit
Steve Bruce has warned Liverpool they will have to match Birmingham’s valuation of Jermaine Pennant – believed to be around £5m (€7.3m) – if they want to sign the winger.
Blues have already rejected an offer of around £3.5m (€5.1m) from Rafael Benitez for the former Arsenal player who moved to St Andrews from Arsenal for £3m (€4.3m) 12 months ago.
Bruce is mindful of the fact Birmingham will have to pay Arsenal 25% of any fee for Pennant as part of a sell-on clause included in the deal.
He said: “We had an offer from Liverpool which we rejected and, until they meet our valuation of Jermaine Pennant, they will get the same answer.
“There’s only been one bid, of around £3.5m (€5.1m). We paid £3m (€4.3m) for Jermaine plus we owe Arsenal 25% of any sell-on fee.
“We don’t want to sell him for £3.5m (€5.1m), that’s for sure. Now it’s a question of how far Liverpool are prepared to go in meeting our valuation. If they don’t then they will move on, I suppose.”
Benitez could now make an improved offer, especially as one of his potential targets in Damien Duff has joined Newcastle from Chelsea in a £5m (€7.3m) deal.
Meanwhile, Bruce looks like he will have to admit defeat in his bid to sign Coventry striker Gary McSheffrey after the player insisted he was committed to the Sky Blues.
Birmingham have had two bids rejected for the player who was Coventry’s leading scorer in 2005-06.
Bruce is keen to bring in new fire-power, particularly after the sale of Emile Heskey to Wigan for £5.5m (€8m) to supplement DJ Campbell, Mikael Forssell and Cameron Jerome.
