Former Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn admits they chose Steve Bruce ahead of Louis van Gaal as manager in 2009.
In a new book on North-East football called 'Up There', written by Michael Walker, Quinn says he spoke to Van Gaal twice in 2009 once the club decided Ricky Sbragia would not remain in charge.
"We'd always had Steve Bruce on the list," said Quinn.
"Maybe some would say we'd delusions of grandeur but we had good feedback from Louis van Gaal.
"I spoke to him personally a couple of times on the phone at home.
One time his wife answered and told me: 'Keep working on him, I want to go to England'.
"That was adventurous but Ellis was all set to back it if it came off.
"That was after Ricky. Roberto Mancini's people got in touch with us at that time too. He'd been having English lessons.
"It was interesting. We opted for Steve and he got us a top-10 finish."
