Sunderland will fight tooth and nail to hold on to Ross Stewart this summer it seems, with Kristjaan Speakman telling The Athletic that he is "keen" to hold on to the forward and reach fresh terms with the player.
How many goals has Ross Stewart scored for Sunderland?
The 26-year-old struggled to get onto the field too frequently for the Black Cats in 2022/23, with the striker having to drop out of the side due to injury issues. It meant that the Championship side had to try and claim a promotion without him and whilst they were able to climb into the play-off places in his absence, they ultimately faltered and fell out of the competition to eventual winners Luton.
Still, the attacker bagged himself ten goals in just 13 league outings and with three assists to boot, it meant he ended the campaign with a goal contribution rate of 1.12 per 90 – the best of his career.
Prior to that, he fired Sunderland to glory in League One with 24 goals in 46 third tier games. It means that since his move to the Stadium of Light, he has never failed to hit a double digit goal tally when he starts ten games or more. It shows how prolific the striker has been for the club and how big of a miss he was when he did have to sit out of fixtures last season.
Are Sunderland selling Ross Stewart?
Now, with the club awaiting potential interest in Stewart's services, Speakman has once more reiterated his side's desire to keep hold of the Scotland man.
Speaking via The Athletic, the Black Cats' sporting director stated that they are "really keen" to keep hold of the forward but that they "haven't got to an agreement" on fresh terms at the club yet. However, in a boost for Sunderland fans, he also added that it seems the player himself would "like to stay" with the Championship outfit.
As yet though, no fresh contract has been agreed and it means he may still be the subject of interest at some point this window, but "that's our private business," says Speakman.
He revealed: "The situation is no different to where we have been: we are really keen to retain Ross and everything from his camp is that he’d like to stay. But we haven’t got to an agreement that both parties would like to sign off.
"Externally that can seem strange, but we don’t think it is – Dennis Cirkin re-signed last week and we have been speaking to him about his contract for maybe six months."
Any interest would come as no surprise though. Having not struggled to adapt to the second tier, as showcased by his ten goals, the forward has proven he is well capable of finding the back of the net in the Championship.
In fact, the praise has continually been heaped on Stewart since his switch to Sunderland, with journalist and Black Cats fan Josh Bunting stating that the striker is "outstanding" after his performances on Wearsdie. His goals record also displays this, and he truly stepped up to the plate in attack for the club since his transfer – and it is therefore no wonder that the second tier outfit are so desperate to hold onto the Scotland player.