Dunne set to leave City

Republic of Ireland defender Richard Dunne is believed to be on the verge of a move out of Manchester City, with Stoke City, Sunderland and Tottenham all in the hunt for his signature.

Last season, the 29-year-old featured 43 times for the club he joined from Everton in 2000, but City's four-time player of the season now appears to be surplus to requirements, with the club’s Abu Dhabi-based owners having promised to spend big this summer.

Predictably, the vastly experienced defender is not short of admirers, and his reputation will have been strengthened after his brilliant display for Giovanni Trapattoni’s side against Bulgaria in Sofia last weekend.

All three suitors could use the sort of stability Dunne brings to a side, but with three years left on the Dubliner’s contract, Manchester City are certain to make a profit on the £3million investment they made nearly nine years ago.

At Spurs, he would join up with Ireland captain Robbie Keane and could form a solid partnership with Jonathan Woodgate or Michael Dawson.

Sunderland also have a familiar face in Dunne’s former Ireland team-mate Niall Quinn, but Stoke may prove the most attractive to the Irishman, given its location in the north-west, where he has been based since 1996.