KENWYNE Jones’ future at Sunderland appears to be resolved with the club about to offer him a lucrative new fouryear contract after resisting a record £15m bid from Tottenham.

Last night’s announcement demonstrates the club’s regard for the player signed from Southampton for £6m in September 2007, with manager Ricky Sbragia claiming only an offer in the region of £50m would be of interest to the Black Cats.

However, some players are surplus to requirements.

After selling Pascal Chimbonda back to Spurs, Sunderland are also poised to accept £1m for Rade Prica with former club Aalborg and FC Midtjylland vying for the Swede’s signature.

Had the Black Cats accepted Spurs’ offer for Jones it would have eclipsed the highest fee received for a Sunderland player by around £10m – with Don Hutchison’s £5.5m move to West Ham the record sale to date.

Spurs have been linked with a player-pluscash offer for the Trinidad and Tobago international, with Darren Bent being used to sweeten the deal.

But this latest bid is believed to have been a s t r a i g h t £15m cash offer and did not involve any other players.

Sunderland were l i n k e d with a m o v e f o r Bent prior to his ill-fated switch to Tottenham and they continue to retain an interest in the former Charlton Athletic forward.

After agreeing terms with Chimbonda, Harry Redknapp seemed to have admitted defeat in his pursuit of Jones yesterday.

“There’s nothing we can do,” said Redknapp. “Our chairman tried to do a deal, spoke to Niall Quinn quite a few times but if there’s no deal, no deal.”

Unless Jones agitates for a move, the prospect of him leaving Wearside before the transfer window closes appear non-existent.

In the meantime, Sbragia will attempt to tie up deals for two players this week with Portsmouth centre-back Herman Hreidarsson among those on the wanted list.

After sanctioning Chimbonda’s return to the London club, Sbragia met Quinn yesterday to discuss player recruitment as the Black Cats prepare to fight to retain their Premier League status.

Sunderland are targeting experience and 34-year-old Hreidarsson fits the bill.

Sbragia regards Sunderland’s next three fixtures as ‘the most important games this season.’ And the Black Cats boss, who is yet to taste league victory since being made permanent manager, has earmarked tonight’s home game with Fulham as ‘must-win’.

“For me Tuesday is the big test, not what we do in the transfer market. It would be nice to win it but it would be devastating if we lost it. It’s a game we must win,” said Sbragia.

With bids for Hreidarsson and Calum Davenport under consideration, Sbragia is hoping to make a breakthrough after the Fulham game.

Chimbonda’s return to Spurs, in a £3m deal, ended an unhappy spell on Wearside for the French right-back. And his agent Willie McKay confirmed the move was motivated by personal issues.

“His move has got nothing to do with football reasons as his man of the match performance showed against Blackburn,”

said McKay.

“Niall Quinn has been different class as a chairman with Pascal because he knew he was struggling to settle in the North-East because his wife had not moved up from London.”

Despite off-loading the troublesome Chimbonda, Sbragia told Redknapp he’d have to smash the British transfer record if he wanted to land Jones.

“It would have to be £50m or something like that. It’s just been ‘no’ to Spurs,’’ he insisted.

Sbragia has set a 40-point target to guarantee Sunderland’s top-flight survival and regards Jones as a vital part of that effort.

“Kenwyne has just said he likes it here, likes his football, and understands the danger we are in and wants to help us get out of it.

“I just can’t see him going, honestly. A lot of players would say they wanted to at least talk to Spurs but he didn’t and that is pleasing.”

Last night Spurs boss Redknapp reacted angrily to accusations of deliberately unsettling Jones, even suggesting Sunderland targeted Bent.

Sbragia has made no secret of his fury at the manner of Spurs’ approach for Jones – but Redknapp has revealed Bent has been made aware of Sunderland’s interest.

‘‘Is someone upsetting Darren Bent? He came to see me and says ‘I hear Sunderland want me’,’’ Redknapp said. ‘‘I said ‘I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to anyone at Sunderland’.

‘‘He said ‘well my agent says they want me’. So someone is talking to someone. I could say the same thing, that Sunderland are upsetting Darren Bent.’’ Redknapp claims Spurs had been given encouragement over a possible deal but chairman Daniel Levy has since told his manager that Jones could now sign a new deal at the Stadium of Light.

■ Redknapp also signed goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini yesterday and declared an interest in bringing Robbie Keane back to Spurs.