Sunderland’s Ross Stewart has taken League One by storm this season, scoring 22 goals and keeping his side’s promotion hopes alive throughout. But could he be on the move this summer?
Stewart, 25, has enjoyed a promising season so far. The Scot has scored 22 goals in 41 League One outings for Sunderland, earning his first call-up to the Scotland national side in the process too.
The Black Cats are still in the midst of a promotion charge – Alex Neil has steadied the ship and put points on the board, with his side now sat in 6th with five games of the season remaining.
With the summer ahead bound to be another busy one for Sunderland, should the club be weary of losing Stewart?
Links from above…
In January, Stewart was linked with a move to Swansea City. The link always seemed to be somewhat far-fetched and it never came to anything, though it certainly would’ve made Sunderland nervy of any potential interest in Stewart.
Last month the club were said to be keen on renewing his stay at the Stadium of Light, which runs until 2023.
It seems like the club are waiting until the fate of their season is discovered before they start looking at player contracts though, and in the time since we’ve seen yet more interest in Stewart emerge with The Sun on Sunday (27.03.21) revealing that Norwich City were keen on signing Stewart this summer.
Again, the link is quite easy to make – the League One top scorer and a side dropping back down into the Championship, and in need of a striker.
But still, Sunderland won’t want to see these links cropping up and should they miss out on promotion to the Championship this season then they could yet receive a lot of interest in Stewart this summer.
On the flip-side, should they secure promotion then it seems highly unlikely that Stewart would swap Sunderland for say, Swansea City or Norwich City.
Whether or not Stewart will leave this summer could largely depend on his side’s league status ahead of next season then. The Black Cats might feel pressure to sell him if they remain in League One and fail to extend his stay at the club, as he’ll have only a year left on his contract come this summer.
It’s certainly a difficult one for Sunderland to navigate – Neil’s side next face Shrewsbury Town in League One on Friday.