Bruce: Connor Is The Future

Steve Bruce has declared that he may not need another striker as he hopes Wickham will prove to be the signing of the season.

Sunderland are expected to play with Asamoah Gyan and Stephane Sessegnon up front and hoping Wickham starts as many games as possible for his young age.

Steve Bruce said: ‘It`s vitally important that we don`t expect too much of him too soon, but we do believe that we`ve got a really exciting talent on our hands who can excel for us for years to come.

“That old-fashioned style British centre-forward is exactly what we`ve been looking for all along and there aren`t that many of them.

“We`ve paid a lot of money – possibly a bit too much – but we`re very confident in his ability and he`ll only get better.”

Bruce hopes that Wickham, the first real tall target man striker since Kenwyne Jones will grab this opportunity with both hands.

Bruce added: I just think that we needed a focal point, a Peter Crouch type if you like.

“There aren`t that many. I thought it was important we had an English type centre forward and he fits that bill perfectly. He`ll play games for us.”