No sooner had his head cleared after a night of celebrations
following Saturday's 2-0 win at Aston Villa, than Bruce was on a flight to Egypt to meet highly-rated striker Amr Zaki.

He is due to watch him in action and will have talks with the 25-year-old, who plays for El Zamelek.

Bruce will miss the club's player of the year dinner at the JJB Stadium tonight in order to meet Zaki, underlining how keen he is on the Egypt international.

It's believed Zaki is valued around the £5m mark, and that price-tag is within Latics' reach.

Only last week, Bruce spoke of his desire to sign a top-class striker who he would be willing to spend a large slice of his summer transfer budget.

And the foreign market is one which appeals as prices tend to be cheaper.

Zaki has played for three clubs in Egypt as well as an unsuccessful season with Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia, where he failed to play a single game.

He has scored 21 goals at international level, three times helping Egypt to the final of the African Nations Cup.

He has netted 22 times in 54 games for El Zamelek, who signed him from
Lokomotiv in 2006.

Bruce wants more goals from Latics next season in a bid to prevent a fight against relegation for a third successive season.
With one match left, they are the second lowest scorers in the Premier League with 34 goals – only relegated Derby have less.

Bruce said: "Our top scorer this season is Marcus Bent with seven goals, with three of those coming in one game.
"Then we have players on five and six goals, so that really is an area we really need to improve on for next season.

"I think the most important thing for a club like ours is to get a striker who can make a difference – that is where I would spend the money if I could source one."

There will be plenty of room for a new frontman in the squad this summer as Bruce shakes things up in the coming months.

Julius Aghahowa is on his way out to join Turkish side Kayserispor for a nominal fee, while Henri Camara will almost certainly be sold when he returns from his season on loan at West Ham.

Bruce also has to decide whether to keep Bent, who plays the last game of his loan spell from Charlton when Manchester United visit the JJB on Sunday.

A fee of around £1m was agreed with Charlton when Bent came on loan in
August, and talks will take place with the player and his representatives in the coming weeks.

If Bruce can land Zaki soon, and with a deal in the offing for Honduran
midfielder Hendry Thomas, he is acting quickly to stamp his mark on the squad.

He always said he would put transfer dealings on hold until Latics secured their Premier League status, and with that done at Villa Park, it's now all systems go.

Bruce won't commit himself publicly to how many signings he wants to make, but has stated it's quality rather than quantity he is looking for.