Bruce tracking James
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has said that he has not given up on the possibility of signing David James ahead of the new season.
Sunderland have been linked with a move to try and sign James along with a number of other high profile clubs. Celtic are said to be the favourites at this moment in time but Sunderland would give James a final chance to play in the Premier League.
The next move of James' career is likely to be the last one and if Sunderland can persuade him to join then it would mean they would have a quality cover player for current number one at the club Craig Gordon.
Someone of James' age and experience is going to bring with him a number of attributes that will guarantee success at a club. However, it's unlikely that James will want to join a club where he will not be considered the number one goalkeeper.
James' Attributes
The biggest attribute that James possesses is experience. He has played for the likes of West Ham United, Liverpool, Manchester City and currently holds the record for the most Premier League appearances.
He has managed to stay fit and is clearly still in very good form. He went to the World Cup with England and ended up being the number one keeper on the team. This means that he will still be in good shape even though he has not returned to any club for pre-season training yet.
He's as agile as he ever has been and this is vital for goalkeepers in the Premier League where the quality of goal strikers is as high as any league in the world. They often have to dart across goal to make saves at vital moments and when you consider the fact that James is 39 it's impressive he is still good at this part of his game.
Bruce said: "James could be somebody that we're interested in because of the problem with Gordon [injury]. We had had a conversation with David's representatives and I'll make my mind up in the next week or so."
Desire
James will still have the desire to achieve things in football and he may not want to join a club where he is not the main man in the goalkeeping area. This could be considered selfish but it's something he may have to put up with if he wants to carry on playing.
There are still commentators that say he will join Celtic and he would be much more likely to be number one at that club than he would be at Sunderland. However, this will be a step down in quality and there is still a good chance that James will get an extended run of games in the side at Sunderland while Gordon is injured.
Bruce added: "It's something I didn't want to happen because I was very happy with Craig Gordon and how he did last year. David James has talked to Celtic, which we always knew he was going to do. I don't think he is trying to play one off against the other. He is just keeping his options open at the moment, but we're still hopeful something will happen."
Advice
A brilliant goalkeeper will often save a side three or four key goals over the course of a season. This is something that only top quality goalkeepers can do. Back the side that James joins because he will only add to their chances of doing well as opposed to being a burden to them.
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