Sunderland about to drop big clue on true state of Ross Stewart contract talks

With January approaching, Ross Stewart being back among the goals and showcasing just how good he is will make it a nervy time for Sunderland supporters.

The Scotsman is a key player for the Black Cats and an immensely popular one with the fans, and his contract situation is far from ideal right now.

Kristjaan Speakman has openly said the club are in talks, but that has been the line for a while now. He has also claimed Stewart wants to stay at the club.

Ultimately, though, it doesn’t really matter how many assurances Speakman or owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus give on Stewart. There is only one thing that will settle everyone down and end the constant speculation over his future and that is a new contract being agreed.

However, we may be about to get a big clue about the actual state of play.

Ross Stewart contract extension

Ross Stewart is technically out of contract this summer, but there is zero chance of Sunderland allowing him to hit the free agent market in 2023.

He signed a two-and-a-half year deal in January 2021 when he arrived from Ross County, but an option to automatically extend that by one year was written into the deal by Sunderland.

That clause was sensible and it’s something that is becoming more common at Sunderland now. Stewart was coming in as a wholly unproven player from Ross County and, in fairness, there was nothing in his record to suggest he was going to become the player he has.

The fact that clause has not yet been exercised, though, is probably a positive thing and does suggest talks are both on-going and progressive. That is the hope, anyway.

With January approaching, unless that clause is activated Ross Stewart will be free to sign a pre-contract with any foreign club, including those in Scotland. Obviously with Rangers holding a known interest, that’s a very bad thing.

So, it’s probably fair to expect some news on some kind of Ross Stewart contract extension in the next ten days. A similar situation can be seen at Manchester United, who have just triggered automatic extensions on the contracts of Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot and Fred to allow them longer to discuss longer-term deals.

Interestingly, David De Gea is in a similar position in that his deal runs out at the end of the season and Man Utd have the option to extend, but they have not triggered it with the others. That is because contract talks are ‘positive.’

What Sunderland do over the next ten days with Ross Stewart will likely be a very big indicator about just how close a new contract is to being agreed.

Ross Stewart contract extension

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