The 48-year-old wants to start the process of re-shaping his squad even before the Black Cats open their pre-season campaign at Darlington on July 16 if possible, but if not, certainly by the time they head off for the Amsterdam Tournament around a week later.

Bruce told the club's official website, www.safc.com: "I would hope to have some new faces in by the time of the opening friendly, or at least by the time we go to the Amsterdam Tournament.

"I'm on the phone all of the time and am in constant touch with [chairman] Niall [Quinn] and [chief executive] Steve Walton.

"Hopefully we will have some new faces around at the start, and that would be terrific."

The list of players to be linked with the Black Cats grew significantly in length over the weekend with the Wearsiders expected to be one of the Barclays Premier League's big spenders once again.

New owner Ellis Short is understood to have provided Bruce with a war chest of up to £50million, although Quinn has being at pains to stress that money will not be spent for the sake of it and that every purchase will have to be justified.

Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch and former Newcastle frontman Lomana LuaLua are the latest names to be thrown up by the rumour machine, with the likes of Richard Dunne, Sylvain Distin, Titus Bramble, Lee Cattermole and Darren Bent already firmly linked with the club.

With Sunderland having decided not to take up the option of signing French striker Djibril Cisse on a permanent deal, there is little doubt that area of the team will be a priority, and central defence will provide another focus.

But with some of the club's recent buys, by Quinn's own admission, looking good on paper but proving less than value for money, the Black Cats will be determined to do their homework this time around.

The current squad is due to return for pre-season training on July 8 and after the game at the Northern Echo Darlington Arena, will head for a pre-season training camp on the Algarve, where they will face Liga Vitalis outfit Portimonense.

They are scheduled to play Benfica and Atletico Madrid at the Amsterdam Tournament between July 24 and 26, and will then travel to Scotland for friendlies against Celtic and Hearts in August.