Steve Bruce could be about to end his interest in Uruguayan striker Walter Pandiani after losing patience with the player's existing club Deportivo La Coruna.

The 29-year-old, nicknamed The Rifle, spent the second half of last season on loan to Birmingham City when he scored four goals in 13 appearances and impressed Bruce enough for the manager to make a bid to sign him on a permanent basis.

But the saga has been rumbling on for more than two months with the La Liga side continuing to quibble over the price by placing what Blues believe is an unrealistic valuation on the player.

Deportivo want a fee of about £4 million while Birmingham have offered an initial £1.5m with a further million to come with appearances but Bruce has warned the Spanish side that he may look elsewhere if discussions continue to drag on.

Bruce said: "Things are ongoing but they've been going on for weeks and sometime shortly a line will have to be drawn under the matter because it's ridiculous."

Real Zaragoza had rivalled Blues for Pandiani although it looks like Birmingham are the only ones in the running.

That said, however, while the two parties continue to be 'a million miles apart' in their opinion of the veteran's worth the situation has reached a deadlock.

Deportivo's truculence is difficult to understand given the fact that Pandiani appears to have alienated himself from his team-mates and manager to such an extent that it is difficult seeing him representing the Spanish side again.

One player who will not be coming to St Andrew's is Sparta Prague's Tomas Jun after the Czech club's asking price was met by Trabzonspor.

The Turkish outfit seem prepared to pay £2m for the 22-year-old while Blues and Fulham have decided not to bother.

On a positive note it appears that midfielder Muzzy Izzet has not sustained any long-term damage after he struggled to finish Blues' 4-0 pre-season win over Derby County.

Bruce said: "Muzzy took a knock on his hip and it was affecting his movement a bit. He's not played in eight months so we have got to manage him carefully but the big plus for us was that he got another 45 minutes under his belt."

Izzet missed nearly all of last season when he suffered a knee injury having played only a handful of matches after his move from Leicester City.

Meanwhile, despite manager Bryan Robson's protestations that he does not need a new forward, West Bromwich Albion continue to be linked with attackers from across Europe.

The latest player to find his name in the same sentence as 'the Baggies' is Norwegian striker Hannes Sigurdsson who has been watched by the club as he plays for Viking Stavanger in the qualifying rounds of the Uefa Cup.

The 22- year- old has already scored 13 goals in 23 matches for the Scandinavians but remains behind Dynamo Kiev's Maksim Shatskikh and Portsmouth's Doimnsy Kamara on Robson's wish-list.

Albion last night lost 2-0 at Sporting Lisbon in a hastily arranged match following permission from the FA to go ahead with the game. Leidson opened the scoring for Sporting on 23 minutes with Carlos Martins adding a second after 63 minutes.

Scottish club Heart of Midlothian have confirmed their interest in signing Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Colin Cameron.

The 32-year-old Scottish international left Tynecastle to join Wolves in a £1.75 m deal four years ago and has been linked with a return to Edinburgh in recent days.

Hearts chief executive Phil Anderton said: "I've heard about Colin Cameron. It depends on what happens with other players."