Sunderland ready to make decision on £3m Bruce

Wigan Athletic and Sunderland are expected to reach an agreement on compensation for Steve Bruce within the next 48 hours but it will be considerably less than the £5m Wigan initially asked for last Monday when they were first contacted by the Wearside club.

Sunderland have not been sidetracked by claims from Roberto Mancini in Italy yesterday that he has been offered the job at the Stadium of Light. That was privately rubbished by senior figures at Sunderland yesterday.

Instead the focus will remain on agreeing a compromise with Wigan and then negotiating a suitable contract with Bruce. It is not a foregone conclusion but Bruce could be manager of Sunderland by Wednesday.

The Wigan chairman Dave Whelan said yesterday: "I paid Birmingham a compensation fee [for Bruce in 2007] and I think it is only fair they buy his contract out. I paid Birmingham £3m and I am asking for the same amount back.

"There are a lot of managers on the market at the moment you can get for nothing. It depends whether Sunderland feel they want to pay £3m. If they want real, real quality managers, Steve is up there.

"I said to Steve and to Niall [Quinn] that if you are going to do a deal, do it quickly. Niall spoke to me and said, 'I understand we can't mess about on this and by Sunday evening we will have a decision for you'."

Whelan added that he will not draw up a shortlist of potential replacements until he has heard for certain that Bruce is leaving the JJP Stadium. "I don't want to lose Steve," he said. "I really haven't got [a replacement] in mind at present. It is not something I do – I wait to see what the outcome is and face reality. I would advertise and we will have 20 application in with some good lads among them."

Yesterday Mancini, who has been out of work since being sacked by Internazionale last year, told Sky Italia: "I am honoured to have had an offer from Sunderland Football Club. It is a fantastic opportunity.

"It will be truly wonderful to lead such a prestigious and historic club in England after a year of sitting on the sidelines. I feel I am ready to start again with immense enthusiasm. I have enjoyed a year out following winning the Scudetto on three consecutive occasions.

"Having completed a year of media commitments, I'm now ready to return to full-time management," he added. "Ideally I would like that to be in the Premier League. I want to test myself against the very best." However, Mancini looks set to be disappointed as Bruce heads towards the Stadium of Light.