Sunderland star Dan Neil has already sent clear hint on future amid Everton and David Moyes interest

Though news of Everton's interest in Dan Neil may provide Sunderland with a headache in the long run, a deal in this current window is thought to be highly unlikely.

Neil's own verdict on his future last month highlighted his focus on winning promotion to the Premier League with his boyhood club, with the 23-year-old determined to see through the job he started when he broke into the first-team set up during the club's spell in League One.

While most of Sunderland's squad are under contract for an extended period, there are one or two notable exceptions. Both Dan Neil and Dennis Cirkin have now entered the final 18 months of their deal, and though Kristjaan Speakman confirmed in the summer that he was in talks with representatives of the pair, no resolution has as of yet been forthcoming.

"We've always tried to retain the top talent, those conversations are ongoing for a number of players," Speakman said in July, shortly after the appointment of Régis Le Bris.

"And I think, like I said, we try to keep a really, really close contact with the agents of all the players to know how they're feeling, where they feel they're at the minute, what they think is the next step for them, how comfortable are they with the environment, what can we do to chop and change things here to make sure they're really, really comfortable. And naturally, if anyone's got a contract they're starting to get towards the conclusion, then we're always really active on that front."

It's for this season that news of Everton's interest in signing Neil this month, first reported by The Telegraph on Wednesday night, cannot be immediately dismissed. Most of the headlines around Sunderland and transfers this month have been centred on Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg, two young players who seemed destined for the very top. In both cases, though, Sunderland are exceptionally well placed. While there is a good degree of realism about the fact that both may well end up outstripping Sunderland's development as a team, right now they are exactly where they need to be and both agreed new contracts last summer. Both had opportunities to push for a move to the top tier, but didn't. Put simply, Sunderland have no need to entertain any offers that come their way.

Amid all the (justified) hype around that pair, the interest in Neil from the top tier has gone a little under the radar. He has been scouted relentlessly by Premier League clubs since his emergence as a first-team player, with the scouts who were so enamoured with his passing and creative ability in youth football quickly reassured that he had overcome a serious injury that had at one stage threatened his development.

While there may continue to be some doubt about his best position, the way he has in the last two years developed his defensive skills, positional discipline and leadership in a deep-lying midfield role only adds to his appeal. And now that he is edging towards the end of his deal, clubs will be wondering if there is a bargain to be struck. For now, Sunderland fans shouldn't be overly concerned. The sale of Jack Clarke in the summer (and Ross Stewart a year previous) means that there is zero financial pressure to sell in this window and it goes without saying that the club would have little to no interest in losing their team captain and such an important part of their team. And having set out a clear goal when he first broke into the team of being one of the players to lead his boyhood club back to the Premier League, he is likely to have little to zero interest himself in moving when that dream is now within touching distance.

He suggested as much when he spoke to The Echo after the 3-2 win over Swansea City in December, saying that talks over his contract had been no distraction through the opening months of the campaign."In terms of the contract stuff, my only goal is to get us promoted this season," Neil said. "That's everyone's goal this season and we just need to keep plugging away. All that [contract talk etc] is background noise, I'm here and all I'm interested in is those automatic places and getting us promoted back to the Premier League."

Sunderland are realistic about how difficult it might be to keep some of their best young players if they do not win promotion this season, and if they cannot reach a fresh agreement with Neil, it's clear that they will have little choice but to entertain offers in the summer. In that scenario, Everton would not be the only club circling.All that is a little way off, though. Sunderland have long been confident that a combination of their strong financial position and determination of their players to see this campaign through would prevent the squad from being broken up this month. Few are as invested personally in this promotion campaign as Neil and so while you can never say never, it would be a major surprise if Everton's interest developed into anything more for the time being.