Bruce, who is always reluctant to talk about possible transfer targets, has said that he has spoken with his ex-Manchester United team-mate about a possible move to St. Andrews and that he is waiting for a decision from the England international schemer.
"The situation at the moment is that we had a bid accepted by Man Utd and we're just waiting on Nicky's decision," the Blues boss told Sky Sports News.
"Obviously the closer it gets to the transfer deadline on 5pm Monday, then the less likely it seems it'll happen.
"Certainly as yet we haven't given up hope, we're still trying to do something if we possibly can.
"Thats the problem with the transfer window - it pushes people into a corner. If the transfer window wasn't there maybe in three or four weeks we could do something.
"The difficulty is that trying to leave a big club like that is a huge, big decision to make and at the moment Nicky is just trying to make up his mind.
"You have just got to try and be patient. If it doesn't happen before Monday then we'll maybe try and address the situation again in the summer.
"What I wanted to do was in the summer anyway but the one really, really top player for me that as become available in this transfer window is Nicky Butt. Thats why we decided to act. We've spoken to the player."