Ex-Chelsea youth Ruben Sammut to leave Sunderland

The 22-year-old was recruited as part of the U23 squad last summer following a short loan spell the season before but never managed to break into the first team picture on Wearside.

The Echo understands he has been told this week that he won’t be offered a new deal and the midfielder has already updated his LinkedIn profile page describing himself as a ‘free agent’.

Sammut was given the chance to travel to Portugal with the first team under Jack Ross last pre-season but was unable to break into the squad when League One started.

He trained with the first team on occasion under Phil Parkinson but has been told his future lies away from Wearside.

Before joining Sunderland, Sammut also had a short spell at Falkirk.

As we exclusively revealed on Sunday, Sammut’s Under-23 teammate Bali Mumba is on the verge of a move to Norwich City.