The Dutch international full-back, who still has 12 months to run on his present contract at St Andrews, had been the subject of reported interest from the Spanish side but Bruce has revealed that he will be doing all he can to keep the former Chelsea player at Blues. "Mario has got another season with us and then there's an option on the contract on top of that," Bruce told the Birmingham Evening Mail. "But I want to keep him around Birmingham City for much longer than that. He knows exactly what we think of him here and no way is he available. "I want to extend his stay here because it's players like him that you want to build your football club around. "What's the point in letting your better players go? You then just don't improve and progress.
"I'm not really surprised that Mario is the subject of speculation and being linked with other clubs but he is going nowhere."