Wigan's £3m tempts Birmingham to release Bruce

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Last night the Wigan chairman, who is on holiday in Barbados, was still waiting for permission from Birmingham to speak to Bruce. City's managing director Karren Brady said last night that the request was being considered.

In demand: Steve Bruce

But Whelan remains hopeful that he will get his man because Brady and her employers ultimately feel a moral obligation to let Bruce go.

Whelan is also set to exploit the uncertainty surrounding Bruce's future at Birmingham, whose prospective new owner Carson Yeung snubbed the chance to authorise a new deal for the manager.

Whelan said: 'The Chinese people who are supposed to be taking over at Birmingham will not give Steve an answer on extending his contract, which is running out. So he is a candidate for us.'

One sticking point last night was Bruce's desire to take assistant Eric Black with him as Birmingham argue this would leave nobody to run the team in the short-term.

The current City board were keen to offer Bruce a new five-year contract six months ago but Yeung, whose takeover is stalling, has failed to agree to the deal and left Bruce unsure that his contract, which only has 18 months left, will be extended.

For that reason Brady and club owners David Sullivan and David Gold have a moral dilemma.

How can they stop Bruce from leaving when their association with the club is expected to end ? It is why Bruce is keen to talk to Wigan about a return to a club he served briefly in 2001.

Whelan sees Bruce as the ideal replacement for Chris Hutchings.

He is not only prepared to compensate Birmingham for luring away their manager — for what would be a Premier League record — but is also prepared to reward Bruce handsomely with a seven-figure salary as well as a £1m bonus should topflight survival be achieved.