Saint Phillips?_It's just not that simple

Phil Smith, who represents Phillips, gave a lukewarm response to the Black Cats' decision to grant Southampton permission to speak to the player.

Phillips is understood to be reluctant to return to the South Coast club that rejected him as a teenager - especially if they are unable to match his current wages of around £25,000 a week.

The 30-year-old has already declared his desire to stay in the North-East and not move from his County Durham home.

That would seemingly pave the way for Middlesbrough to bid for the forward - but they have been unwilling thus far to pay £3m for a player that scored just six Premiership goals last season.

Charlton Athletic and Birmingham City are also keen on Phillips, while Rangers and Celtic are monitoring the situation.

But as Smith revealed foreign interest in his client, he made it clear Phillips's transfer to Southampton was not a foregone conclusion.

He also expressed his disappointment that Sunderland released news of the bid yesterday afternoon.

A statement, issued just after 3pm, read: "Sunderland Football Club has confirmed that it has agreed a fee of £3m with Southampton for striker Kevin Phillips.

"The club confirmed this afternoon that it has given permission for Southampton to approach the player to discuss personal terms.''

Smith said: "In an ideal world we would have been able to digest it better and maybe the chance for the player to speak to his prospective manager without it being out in the open. It's a shame it's come out.

"The first pre-requisite is that there's an agreement between the clubs, but I won't pretend the contract situation isn't difficult.

"His present contract with Sunderland was negotiated at a time when football was much more buoyant financially.

"There's still plenty of money in the game but let's not kid ourselves: clubs use it as a negotiating tactic.

"Southampton have just got £7m from selling Wayne Bridge which they weren't expecting - we'll have some of that, thank you.

"It will be looked at over the next two or three days - it won't be rushed - and there will be other interested parties. We will try to meet with Gordon Strachan and take it from there.

Smith added: "There are a couple of overseas clubs that were interested, but Kevin wanted to stay here; he wants to win domestic competitions and he wants to play for England."

Phillips, who scored 132 goals in 236 appearances for Sunderland, twice asked to leave during their disastrous 2002-03 campaign but had his transfer requests turned down.

Two days after their final Premiership game in May, the former England international publicly stated for the first time that he wanted to move.

Since then, however, Phillips has had to wait with increasing frustration for a club to rescue him from the prospect of playing in the Nationwide League.

He has trained with Sunderland for five weeks, but manager Mick McCarthy has not picked him for any of their pre-season fixtures.

Phillips was released by Southampton aged 18 in 1992 after failing to make the grade as a right-back at the club - where he cleaned Alan Shearer's boots.

During his two years at The Dell, his most notable performance came when he was tormented by Manchester United's Ryan Giggs during an FA Youth Cup tie.

When Phillips was told by then manager Chris Nicholl that he was leaving, he is alleged to have said: "I'm going to prove you wrong. I'm going to make it somewhere."

After quitting Southampton, Phillips joined non-league Baldock Town - and earned a living by loading bread on to vans for Sunblest and stacking shelves at a Dixons warehouse.

Nick Illingworth, of the Southampton Independent Supporters' Association, said: "Two or three years ago, Kevin Phillips was one of the most prolific goalscorers in the country.

"Clearly, he's gone a little bit stale at Sunderland, but this might give him the chance to reignite his England career."

As Phillips edged towards the Stadium of Light exit, Gary Breen completed his move to Sunderland on a free transfer.

Breen, who has signed a two-year deal, believes he will recapture his best form under McCarthy - who was his coach at last year's World Cup.

He said: "I feel I play my best football under Mick and I'm delighted to be joining him at such a big club.

"I'm delighted to be reunited with Mick. I've had a number of offers, but I've waited and have got the move I wanted above any other. This is the club I wanted to come to.

"Of course Sunderland and their players don't want to be playing in the First Division, but we've all got to get on with it and I'm looking forward to the challenge of helping the club back into the Premier League.

"This is a huge club with a huge fan base and fantastic facilities, and when I look around at the players here I'm confident we can turn things around.

"Certainly, that's the feeling I got when I talked to Mick. If I hadn't got those vibes, then I wouldn't be coming.

"If we can make a positive start and get these supporters right behind us, then everyone else will fear us.

"When I used to come here with Coventry and West Ham, I knew just how intimidating it could be.

"Everyone's committed to rolling their sleeves up and battling as one to get this club back into the Premiership.

"Relegation is a terrible time for everyone, but while it will be tough - it is a very difficult league to get out of - I know when I look around the dressing room that there is the talent there.

"It's up to us to get the fans going because with their support we can really get going again."

l Everton are tracking Kevin Kilbane, after the Republic of Ireland halted talks with Sunderland over an extension to his current contract which still has a year to run. The Black Cats will now cash in on the midfielder to avoid him leaving for nothing next summer on a Bosman.

Read more about Sunderland here.