Sunderland boss Steve Bruce admits he is still chasing Schalke 04 striker Kevin Kuranyi.

The 28-year-old Germany international is out of contract in the summer and Bruce, who made an inquiry about him in January, has admitted the prospect of snapping up a player of his stature on a Bosman deal is one which is too tempting to be ignored.

Bruce said: "Kevin Kuranyi will be linked with every top club in Europe.

"Let's be fair, he's a fantastic player who is playing for a club which is trying to win the Bundesliga.

"As everybody knows out there, he is the most outstanding Bosman signing probably in Europe, so I would think there must be 25 clubs looking for his signature - and I can confirm we would be interested, of course we would.

"But we all know we are up against it because of how big the personality is and how big the player is.

"What we are trying to do is improve, but it's not just going to be, I wouldn't have thought, a bottomless pit.

"But for a Bosman like that, we have got to be interested."