Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn remains optimistic they will get Mido and Craig Gordon on board before the start of the Premier League campaign on Saturday and insisted the club will not be swayed by 'fashion' when it comes to recruitment.
Black Cats boss Roy Keane confirmed the club have made a bid for Tottenham's Egypt striker Mido, who looked set to join Birmingham for £6million until the deal fell through.
And Sunderland are battling with Aston Villa to persuade 24-year-old Hearts
goalkeeper Craig Gordon to join the club.
And Quinn told
Radio Five Live: 'This is Roy's department really but we
are trying hard - there are lots of bits and pieces going on behind the scenes.
'If it takes a bit longer so be it - we are not going to lose our nerve now.
'My message to our fans is that we haven't jumped in when an agent has rung
us with a fashionable player.
'A lot of things have to fall right for someone to come to play at
Sunderland.'
Sunderland agreed a fee of £6million with Wigan for Leighton Baines, who
completed his move to Everton for less today, while Jermain Defoe also rejected
the opportunity to move to Wearside since the club made sure of a return to the
top flight at the first attempt in April.
But Quinn added: 'It's been suggested people have turned us down - but it
might be the other way around as well.
'Character is important to us. The players showed it in abundance last season
and if you're not prepared to scrap in a Sunderland shirt, Roy Keane and
Sunderland is not the place for you.'
Quinn, speaking at the Premier League's `Creating Chances' launch, last month
suggested the fees some clubs were paying were artificially inflating the
transfer market - to the annoyance of Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp.
Defenders Russell Anderson, Greg Halford and Paul McShane, midfielders Dickson
Etuhu and Kieran Richardson and striker Michael Chopra have already moved to the
Stadium of Light this summer at a cost of around £16million.
And Quinn continued today: 'I don't regret anything I said - all I said is we
are trying to do the same thing and some of us are going to fail.
'There are people on the outside rubbing their hands because we have got the
market going again.
'We are as guilty as anyone else and fair play to Portsmouth and West Ham, I
wasn't having a go at them.
'But the only people benefiting are players and agents - they are taking all
the money out of the game and when people realise that they will find out what
the Premier League is all about.'
Quinn singled out central defender Nyron Nosworthy to impress this season for
his team, whose campaign starts on Saturday lunchtime with a home game against
Tottenham.
The Irishman added: 'If I was to name a player at our club who will make a
name for himself this year it would be Nyron.
'He came up to us on a free transfer from humble beginnings.
'The fans are anxious to see how he gets on in the Premier League and,
although we don't want to put pressure on him, we think he will do well.'
