EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland braced for Ross Stewart departure as he rejects latest contract offer

Ross Stewart is nearing the exit door at Sunderland after latest failed round of contract talks.

Sunderland are bracing themselves to lose Ross Stewart this summer after he rejected the latest offer of a new deal, with Southampton now in a very strong position to sign him.

Stewart is currently out with an Achilles injury and has not played since January, although he is expected to return towards the end of September.

He is also now in the final year of his Sunderland deal, and the Black Cats have been very keen to extend his stay on Wearside.

However, protracted contract talks now appear to be dead in the water, with Stewart turning down the last – and perhaps final – offer earlier this month.

That has left Southampton in prime position to land the striker, with the 27-year-old understood to be very keen to a move to the south coast club with Sunderland finding themselves unable to compete with the wages being mentioned elsewhere.

The question now facing Sunderland is whether to keep hold of Stewart in the hope of changing his mind in the next 12 months, or attempt to cash-in now as best they can..

Either way, it is likely to accelerate efforts to strengthen the squad in attacking areas, with Tony Mowbray already acknowledging how light his squad is in the final third in terms of numbers.

“As I’ve been saying, I think we still need some additions at the top end of the pitch, and we’re working really hard behind the scenes to make that happen,” Mowbray said. “I’m pretty confident that given the timescale to the next game, we’ll have some help in, in that area.

“I just feel at the moment that we probably need to supplement Hemir and make sure that we’re not relying on a young boy to be the striker for too long. We need some options.”

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