Sunderland and Ross Stewart 'still some way apart' in contract talks

Sunderland and Ross Stewart are still ‘some way from an agreement’ on a new contract, according to latest reports.

That is the latest from journalist Alan Nixon, who reports Premier League side Brentford have now moved to the front of the line.

The Northern Echo also report that Middlesbrough plan to ‘firm up’ their interest in Stewart with an offer in January as well.

Sunderland are prepared to make Stewart their highest-paid player, and have offered to triple his current wages to £10,000 per week. However, while that would be a significant sum for Sunderland under their current wage structure, it would be some way short of the best offer the Scotsman could get elsewhere.

It is certainly looking a difficult situation to resolve, although hopefully not impossible.

From the club’s point of view, owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus wants Sunderland to be financially sustainable. While it’s tempting to say Stewart should be made a special case, his new deal will have a knock-on effect elsewhere.

Many new signings, for example, especially any with some profile within the game, will want parity with the highest earner, and should Sunderland raise that cap for Stewart then it could mean significant extra costs elsewhere. It could also prompt disharmony within the club with existing players pushing for bigger deals too.

However, from a supporter’s point of view it is incredibly frustrating. Sunderland are the best-supported club in the Championship by far, and fans have a perfect right to expect that support to be rewarded with genuine ambition from within the club too.

While that ambition is there, hearing that clubs like Middlesbrough are willing to spend more on your own star players than you are is not going to inspire an awful lot of trust.

Hopefully everything can be resolved, though. It’s quite clear that Stewart is very happy at Sunderland from a football point of view. His performances alone show that. That means the will is there on both sides to get a new deal agreed, so there is plenty of reason to remain optimistic.

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