JAMES Vaughan has turned down a contract extension with Bury and is undergoing a medical at Sunderland today.

The Shakers accepted a £900,000 bid late last night after turning down two previous offers from the Black Cats.

Chairman Stewart Day tried to persuade Vaughan to stay at Gigg Lane for the promotion push this year with the offer of an improved contract.

But the forward, who turns 29 tomorrow, has flown to Wearside from the training camp in Marbella, Spain, to finalise the deal, which could be completed as soon as this afternoon.

“We offered James a new contract but we couldn’t match the wages that Sunderland were offering him,” Day told Bury Times.

“We didn’t want him to go but we couldn’t even come close to what Sunderland were offering.

“James wanted another chance of getting into the Premier League so you can understand why he wanted to join the biggest club outside of the Premier League.”

Day has also assured fans he is willing to invest some of the cash to find a suitable replacement for the man who netted 24 goals last season.

“We always had contingency plans in place,” he added. “We have two or three targets that we have identified.

“People worried when we sold Leon Clarke to Sheffield United last season, but we replaced him with James Vaughan.

“We want to bring in another 15 or 20-goal-a-season striker, whether that be on loan or permanent.

“We have some in mind that are of real League One quality.”

If Vaughan goes for £900,000 it will be the fourth highest transfer fee the club has ever recouped and the biggest since Dean Kiely moved to Charlton for £1.2million in 1999.

Paul Butler went for a similar fee the season before, while David Johnson joined Ipswich for £1m in 1997.