Bruce insists he will only listen to ‘ridiculous prices’ for the striker who Sunderland signed from Tottenham in a £10million deal.
“Please God no! He has been huge for us and the one thing we don’t want to do is sell our best players,” said Bruce.
“There is no authority above me saying I have to sell. We need more Darren Bents. We need to look at his sort of ilk and find players of his calibre and quality.
“It hasn’t surprised me he scored 20 goals. He did it last year at Tottenham coming off the bench near enough, he did it at Charlton, at Ipswich. He’s always done it.”
He added: “Whether (Torres leaving Liverpool) kicks off something, I sincerely hope not. I know Benty is worth a darn sight more than he was 12 months ago.
“This club’s got the ability to resist. The clubs I have been at before didn’t resist. At Wigan we sold, at Birmingham we sold when the offer was big enough for Upson. I don’t think it will happen here unless we are talking ridiculous prices.
“I will do my utmost to try to hang on to him. If it becomes the funny season and if Man City repeat what happened with Lescott, maybe, but Darren has enjoyed it immensely and Sunderland has been good for him too.
“He is extremely happy and very popular. I was at a shop opening the other day. I must have asked 700 kids who their favourite player was and 685 said Darren Bent.”
