KIEREN Westwood and David N'Gog are expected to arrive on Wearside over the weekend to complete their moves to Sunderland.
KIEREN Westwood and David N'Gog are expected to arrive on Wearside over the weekend to complete their moves to Sunderland.
Deals are already in place for both to join the Black Cats, with their transfers set to be finalised when they return from holiday in the next 24 hours.
Goalkeeper Westwood, who has spent three years at Championship side Coventry City, will arrive at the Stadium of Light on a free transfer after rejecting a lucrative deal to keep him at the Ricoh Arena.
The former Carlisle stopper has attracted interest from other Premier League clubs including Manchester City, but the Republic of Ireland international favours a move to Wearside.
The fact Westwood has turned down a big money offer to be Joe Hart's number two suggests the 26-year-old is coming to Sunderland to stake a big claim to start next season as Steve Bruces first choice.
With Craig Gordon, Simon Mignolet and Trevor Carson already at the club, Westwoods arrival will fuel speculation that one keeper will depart during the close season.
There has been uncertainty surrounding Gordon's future with concerns over his long-term fitness after the Scotland international suffered a serious knee injury last season.
He is set to miss the start of next season as he continues his rehabilitation from knee surgery, and with only a year left to run on his current deal, Bruce may look to move the 28-year-old on, with Arsenal and Aston Villa interested.
Along with Westwood, Liverpool forward N'Gog is also set to return from holiday to complete his move to the Stadium of Light.
Black Cats boss Bruce is in the market for at least two strikers as he looks to fill the voids left by Darren Bent and Frazier Campbell, who will miss the majority of next season through his long-standing knee problem.
N'Gog has fallen further down the pecking order at Anfield after the January arrivals of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez.
It was suggested the former Paris St Germain striker would be part of the deal that took Jordan Henderson to Liverpool, but a separate deal was agreed.
Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that an overhaul of Bruce's backroom staff is underway as the club look to avoid a repeat of last season's injury crisis.
The Black Cats boss insisted that he, along with chairman Niall Quinn, would investigate the reasons behind the number of serious injuries picked up towards the end of last season.
At one point, Bruce had just 11 players available for training after a worrying number of first-team players broke down.
David Meyler and Campbell both suffered a reoccurrence of their knee injuries, while there were also lengthy lay-offs for Gordon, Michael Turner, Titus Bramble, Lee Cattermole and Danny Welbeck.
Instead of the current system, which involves the physios handing players over to fitness coaches once their rehab is complete, long-serving physio David Binningsley will continue to oversee player's progress once they leave the treatment room.
The club is also moving to ensure that fitness coaches Scott Ainsley and Will Royall - who currently work on different aspects of players' fitness, work more closely together.
Bruce said: "We've decided to put one man on a player throughout the whole recovery process so that players aren't passed along from one section to another.
"It's possible that there's a gap there between players moving from one stage to the other and that's where problems could occur - everyone does their job but without someone overseeing the bigger picture it might be that the switch from one system to the other is not helpful.
"Hopefully this way, by working more closely as a team, you get a more coherent approach and the players aren't swapping too much from doing one thing to doing another.
"And hopefully you have more of an understanding of what the staff collectively think players should and should not be doing."
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