Sunderland and Ross Stewart are still struggling to find an agreement on a potential new deal which would secure his future on Wearside.
What’s the latest on Stewart’s contract?
Currently, the Scottish striker is just a matter of weeks away from seeing his contract run into its final 12 months after the club triggered a one-year extension.
Talks are believed to have been held late last year, but neither side were able to come to an agreement to settle any concerns from the fans on his future.
His future has been questioned in recent months with some reports claiming there has been an interest coming from the Scottish giants Rangers who were told of his £10m valuation.
And speaking on The Roar podcast, journalist Phil Smith has suggested both parties are wanting to get a deal done but there is a gap between the expectations from the two parties:
“I think talks have reached a bit of an impasse, from my understanding, really – this is around the New Year, I should say.
“I think both parties still want to get it done, but there was a pretty sizable gap, I think. And I think things have ground to a little bit of a halt. Stewart’s obviously then had his injury and then has had to have surgery. That’s obviously a very demanding period for him and a lot to get his head around, so I wasn’t necessarily expecting any movement, around that time.
“I think it absolutely has to be a pressing priority again to try and get it done ahead of the summer.”
Should Sunderland offer Stewart a new deal?
It has been a testing campaign for the 26-year-old who has missed the large majority of the season as a result of two serious injuries.
However, he has still been able to return an impressive 10 goals in the Championship from his 13 appearances this season.
And to put that into perspective, no player in the top 20 scorers has bettered his goals/minute ratio with only the leading scorer, Chuba Akpom, being able to match his return of one goal per every 104 minutes of action.
But his injuries have to be a concern for the club. Although the two big issues he has sustained this season were not the same injury, they were severe ones which have curtailed his season (via Transfermarkt).
Stewart won’t play again this season and there could well be some doubts as to whether his latest injury may hinder him upon his return to the side.
Although he has been a real shining light in the Sunderland side for the last few seasons, these issues could well hold Sunderland back in their willingness to pay big for their striker.
There has been interest from other Championship clubs in the Scottish striker this season which may leave the Black Cats in a tricky situation over the summer with his diminishing contract in mind.
But perhaps there has to be an acceptance on the player’s side that he may not be able to demand the sort of figures he may have had his season not been ruined by injuries.
Smith suggests both sides would like a deal to be agreed upon, so it will be interesting to see if either are potentially willing to make a compromise in their stance.
