Sunderland remain determined to convince Ross Stewart to commit his long-term future to the club, insists sporting director Kristjaan Speakman. The in-form Scotland international striker's future has been the subject of much speculation this season, with a queue of clubs linked with him as he scored nine goals in 11 Championship outings this season to add to the 26 goals he scored last season to power the Black Cats to promotion from League One.
Stewart moved to Wearside from Scottish Premiership side Ross County two years ago and his initial contract was due to run until this summer, but Sunderland have since activated their option to extend it by a further 12 months to the summer of 2024. But negotiations between the club and the player's representatives are ongoing in the hope that a new, improved, deal can be struck.
And Speakman believes Stewart's performances - and his desire to recover from the thigh injury that hampered him earlier in the season - have underlined his commitment to Sunderland's cause as talks continue. "Firstly it's important to say that we're really dedicated and being pro-active to try and get Ross to sign a new contract, everyone is geared up to make that happen and feel that's the right outcome," Speakman told the club's official website.
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"If you look on the pitch, his performances and his desire to get back from injury show that he's 100 percent committed to Sunderland. At the present time that's where negotiations sit and I don't think that's anything that should worry supporters.
"I'd like to think that our track record since we've been at the club is something that the fans can trust, at the present time we've got talented players contracted for a substantial period of time that fully protects the club. There's one or two players that are coming towards the end of their natural contract this summer and they've got certain clauses in there that mean they roll over into the next year.
"From our perspective we feel really comfortable with our position but we also want to try and make sure that when we have high profile players like Ross, we tie them down for the appropriate amount of time."
Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray said yesterday that he is 'confident' that Stewart will still be at the club when the January transfer window closes. He said: "I'm confident [Stewart will still be at Sunderland at the end of the month].
"I'm not sure the phone is ringing off the hook at the moment. It's great that he is scoring all the time, he's back fit, he's starting football matches again [after recovering from the thigh injury that kept him out for three months]."
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