Bruce makes a bid for Butt

Birmingham City's manager Steve Bruce has made a bid for the Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt after being promised the funds to complete the next stage of his club's transformation and qualify for the Uefa Cup.

Bruce has been allocated a budget in the region of £12m to spend on Butt, the Chelsea striker Mikael Forssell and the Blackburn Rovers defender Martin Taylor.

He has offered £5.5m for the 29-year-old Butt, a former team-mate of his at Old Trafford who has reluctantly been granted a transfer request by United, and £1.5m for the 24-year-old Taylor.

There is also money avail able for Bruce to convert the £5m-rated Forssell's on-loan status at St Andrews into a long-term contract.

"If Chelsea give us the green light about Mikael being for sale then we will act," he said. "If they said I could sign him before the transfer window closes then I don't think that would affect my attempts to sign the other two players."

Whereas Bruce has made no secret of his desire to sign Forssell, he is more guarded about his other two targets.

"We have got two bids on the table for two Premiership players and that's as far as I want to talk about it," he added.

Blackburn have already said they want Blues to increase their offer for Taylor to £2m but United are understood to be happy with the bid for Butt, which involves a down-payment of £3m and the balance paid in instalments.

There are potential stumbling blocks, though: Birmingham's ability to pay Butt's £40,000-a-week wages and his willingness to join a club who are not in Europe.

Andy Cole has told Blackburn's manager Graeme Souness that he is ready to see out the final 18 months of his contract and will not be off-loaded this summer. Cash-strapped Rovers are desperate to cut costs but the striker insists that he remains fully committed to the club.

He said: "I signed a 3-year contract two years ago and was happy to join the club and that remains the same today."