Steve Bruce says he wants to keep the striker Kenwyne Jones

Steve Bruce has denied he is seeking to sell Kenwyne Jones this month and described the transfer speculation surrounding the Trinidadian striker as "unsettling and not helpful". Birmingham City are willing to pay up to £11m for Jones and Stoke City are also keen on the centre-forward but Sunderland's manager maintained: "We haven't received any bids for Kenwyne. He's an important part of our team and he isn't going anywhere." Although it is understood that Bruce's public stance could be altered by a combination of a club offering the right price and/or players in part exchange, Sunderland's manager, who is an admirer of Stoke's Turkey forward Tuncay Sanli, is anxious not to give the impression that he is attempting to push Jones out of the door. "I'm trying to build a squad that can compete here at Sunderland and I want quality players like Kenwyne Jones at the club," said Bruce who at times this season has been frustrated by Jones's attitude and is stepping up his efforts to sign the former Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi from Schalke 04 for around £3.5m. However Bruce, who is also pursuing Wigan's Maynor Figueroa and Middlesbrough's Adam Johnson, has no liking for the January transfer window. "I've already expressed my dislike of the January window and my opinion on that certainly hasn't changed," he said. "It's an unsettling time for players, for clubs and it certainly makes a manager's job all the more difficult."