The incredible inside story behind Josh Maja's dramatic Sunderland exit - and irate Jack Ross' phone call to Stewart Donald

Josh Maja collected his belongings and left the Academy of Light before Sunderland had even accepted an offer for his services, it has been claimed.
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In revealing scenes from season two of Netflix docu-series ‘Sunderland ‘Til I Die’ - which is set to return to the streaming service on April 1 - owner Stewart Donald discusses the circumstances behind Maja’s exit, including a phone call from an irate Jack Ross.

Scenes across three episodes chart Maja’s contract saga, with intriguing insights from a number of senior staff and players.

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And in one final interview, Donald explains the exact circumstances behind the striker’s exit - which include claims he packed up his belongings and left the Academy of Light before a deal was agreed.

Sunderland 'Til I Die season two shows the dramatic story behind Josh Maja's exit from the Black CatsSunderland 'Til I Die season two shows the dramatic story behind Josh Maja's exit from the Black Cats
Sunderland 'Til I Die season two shows the dramatic story behind Josh Maja's exit from the Black Cats

People told me it would play out this way,” said Donald.

“I’m negotiating with Josh, it’s all moving along - and then Jack calls me.

“He says ‘thanks very much - Josh has come in and picked up all his stuff and said that he’s gone. You could have told me you’d accepted an offer.’

“I said ‘woah, hold on a minute. I haven’t accepted anything.’”

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And Donald has now confirmed that Sunderland did receive just short of £1.5million for a striker who had scored 16 goals before the turn of the year.

“I haggled the best I could,” said the Sunderland majority shareholder.

“We ended up with I think €1.5million. It’s not a great deal, but it’s the best we could get.

“It isn’t worth anything in comparison to promotion.”

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Sunderland ‘Til I Die, produced by Fulwell 73, will return to Netflix on April 1.

The second series concentrates on Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven’s attempts to turn around the club’s off-field operations - while also targeting promotion to the Championship.