Crouch has been unhappy with the lack of a permanent boss at Pompey
Peter Crouch has flown to the North East for talks with Sunderland boss Steve Bruce after the Black Cats agreed a £12m fee with Portsmouth.
The England striker is also a target for Fulham boss Roy Hodgson who is set to sell Bobby Zamora to Hull for £5m.
Hodgson may yet hold the trump card with Crouch reportedly keen to move to London and the 28-year-old could head to Fulham for talks on Friday.
Tottenham Hotspur are also said to be interested in signing Crouch.
When asked about the deal on Wednesday, Bruce refused to be drawn.
"He is a player I have admired for a very long time," he said.
"We hope we can try to put something together because he would be the type of player of course that would signal our intention of the way we want to take the football club forward."
Crouch scored 16 goals in 49 appearances for Portsmouth last season, however, Pompey executive chairman Peter Storrie was unhappy with his recent criticism of the club having not yet appointed a permanent manager to take over from Paul Hart.
Bruce has already signed one striker this summer, England Under-21 international Fraizer Campbell, while Paraguay skipper Paulo da Silva has also completed a move to the Stadium of Light.
Campbell will not jet off with his new team-mates when they head for Portugal and Holland this weekend as Bruce gives him time to rest after being involved in the European Under-21 Championship.
Meanwhile, Bruce has begun shaping his backroom staff and is hoping predecessor Ricky Sbragia will accept his offer of a role as head of the club's new-look scouting set-up.
Reserve team Neil Bailey, who assisted Sbragia during his spell in charge, has left the club, making way for Bruce's own coaching team which includes Eric Black, Nigel Spink and Keith Bertschin.
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