Clemence played a key part in City gaining promotion back to the Barclays Premier League at the first attempt after being recalled to the side in October and was used as skipper whenever Damien Johnson was not available.

His last gasp winner at Derby eased the pressure on Bruce in mid October and after that City did not look back.

But Clemence, signed from Tottenham four and a half years ago, struggled to hold down a place in Bruce’s side during their spell in the top flight and the 29-year-old would not want to be on the fringe of matters next season.

Campbell is likely to face a similar scenario in the Premiership and he was used mainly as a substitute during the finale to last season when he scored 13 goals in total.

Bruce wants to bring in at least two more players before the big kick-off in August but has only a limited budget of around £8million and accepts he may now have to sell to buy.

He is still keen on defender Paul Konchesky but is unwilling to meet West Ham’s asking price of £4million after offering half of that amount.