Peter Crouch is ready to sacrifice £1m a year for Spurs switch

Although the Black Cats offered Crouch £80,000 a week, he is so keen to be reunited with Harry Redknapp, who he worked with at Portsmouth and Southampton, that he is willing to take £20,000-a-week less to join Spurs.

Crouch wants to return to London — which gave Fulham some hope they could lure him — but it is understood Spurs are his No1 option and talks are set to begin on a deal which could be done within days.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce said: "Naturally this is hugely disappointing for us as Peter was one of our primary targets. I know he was impressed with the set up here when he came for talks, but it's simply a matter of geographical location and that's not something we can affect."

Spurs manager Redknapp wanted to sign Crouch in January but had to wait as Pompey weren't keen to sell six months ago because they were struggling to stay in the Premier League.

The 28-year-old began his career as a Spurs trainee but failed to make the first team and was sold to Queens Park Rangers for just £60,000.

With the futures of strikers Darren Bent and Roman Pavlyuchenko still uncertain, Spurs are also monitoring the availability of Real Madrid forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

The 25-year-old has been told he must decide today if he wants to join Stuttgart after the Germans agreed a £17m fee and personal terms nearly a week ago.

Huntelaar has angered Stuttgart by stalling over the deal as he is desperate for a move to the Premier League and is hopeful for a more concrete proposal from Spurs or Arsenal, who are seeking to replace Emmanuel Adebayor.

Spurs are also bracing themselves for a £10m bid from Aston Villa for midfielder Jermaine Jenas. Redknapp is thought to be reluctant to sell but needs to raise funds to remodel his squad before the start of next season.