EXCLUSIVE: Sunderland start contract negotiations with key midfielder

Sunderland are keen to tie down the future of 'integral cog' Corry Evans.

Sunderland have started contract negotiations with Corry Evans about extending his stay on Wearside.

Evans, 32, has just six months left on the deal he signed when he joined the club from Blackburn in the summer of 2021 after being released by Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn.

That deal does include an option to extend for another year, but Evans is seen as a key player now and crucial for mentoring the young midfield talent the club have, so talks have opened about tying down his future longer term.

Although Mowbray was coach of Blackburn when they released Evans, he has explained that was more down to his injuries than anything else.

He brought those injuries to Sunderland as well, and only managed to play eight League One games before the New Year during his first season.

However, he eventually established himself as a vital part of the team under Alex Neil and he has taken that form forward under Mowbray too.

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"We get on very well as we've always done, and I'm delighted that he is here,” Mowbray said earlier this season, as he praised his impact not only on the pitch but off it too.

"He brings experience, he brings knowledge, he understands my mentality and he's almost like a voice in the dressing room who understands how I work. It's all positive. Corry has been amazing.

"I've been hugely impressed with his composure on the ball. It's fantastic to see him now at this football club being a very, very crucial part of the team and balancing a different type of football team and a different midfield and being an integral cog in that team."

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