The Black Cats take on Wenger's Arsenal at the Stadium of Light on Saturday and will be hoping to continue their excellent home form, but will be up against a Gunners outfit who have been deadly in front of goal so far this season.
Bruce revealed that he gets on extremely well with Wenger, and said the French tactician was one of the all-time great managers.
"I get on well with Arsene and, of all the managers, he's probably helped me the most," he told the Sunderland Echo.
"He helped me get promoted with Birmingham by giving me three players on loan in one season - Nicklas Bendtner, Fabrice Muamba and Sebastian Larsson - and I'll always be grateful for that.
"They were arguably my three best players that season, so they had a massive influence on getting the club up.
"Arsenal are an exceptionally young, gifted team and the fella in charge is bordering on a genius.
"He's produced team after team, sold player after player and yet always managed to find other players to take their place.
"He's quite an incredible manager and, with his current crop of players, the future looks very, very healthy indeed for Arsenal.
"He's got to be up there with the greats because of how his teams play and the way he keeps on producing players and teams."
Praise
Wenger has won many plaudits for the easy-on-the-eye style of football that his team play, although certain quarters argue that Arsenal need to win a trophy this season if they are going to keep progressing.
However, this is not a view shared by the Sunderland manager, who added: "People say Arsene and Arsenal need to win something this season, but I don't think so.
"They haven't won anything for four or five years but they have been through a long transitional period, and in that time they've moved to a new stadium and sold some big players.
"But the one thing Arsene has always done is produce more great young players.
"Certainly, the Arsenal fans would love to see their team win a trophy, but I am also sure they are delighted with their club and the way it is run - it's a flagship club in football."
The Black Cats currently lie in eighth in the Premier League table with 17 points from 12 games, but Bruce admits beating the Gunners is no mean feat.
"As for us, we're under no illusions, we know it will be tough taking on the sort of side that Arsenal are," he said.
"People were maybe a bit dismissive of them at the start of the season but they are second in the league and scoring a stack of goals, knocking in fours and fives and because of where they are now as we approach December, they genuinely have to be considered as potential champions."
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