Phil Smith: Why Dan Neil's new Sunderland deal should encourage supporters

It's one he knows well from his years managing in the Championship: player begins to thrive and attract the attention of Premier League clubs, a carrot is dangled and the head turned. Player begins to move beyond Championship club's wage structure and their hand grows stronger with every week that passes, the club's inevitably weaker.

The point being: No one should be taking for granted the significance of Dan Neil signing an improved deal at Sunderland, one which runs until the summer of 2026.

It is in part yet another show of loyalty from Neil to his boyhood club, one that he could so easily have left when many of his team-mates in the academy did exactly that. He stayed though at the time the club's future was uncertain and the pathway to the first team for young players far from established. Neil, who grew up supporting and watching Sunderland, was determined to be part of putting it back where it belongs.

Neil is also ambitious, though, and would most certainly not be waiting around if he did not feel the club were serious about making it the top-tier in the years ahead.

The new contract is a show of faith in his abilities from the club, and also a show of faith in its direction from him.

The midfielder knows he still has much to improve and in Sunderland, he has an environment where has the platform to do it week in, week out. Mowbray has been steadfast in his faith in the youngster and by the end of the season he will almost certainly cross the 100-appearance mark for the club.

Neil's season has in many ways mirrored that of his team, there have been highs and lows but generally it has been a very progressive campaign in which he has proven his ability to thrive. What makes Neil's campaign all the more impressive is that he has spent much of it in a new role, and most of the rare errors have come from adapting his game to the holding midfield position. One which by his own admission, he'd have probably laughed at the prospect of playing at this level even a year ago. Above and beyond that, the injury to Corry Evans has made him the de-facto leader of the midfield, a challenge he has taken on with a maturity beyond his years.

That capacity for learning and improving, allied to his technical ability, is the reason why Mowbray has been clear that he feels this is a player on a path to the Premier League. The head coach would know as he had been eyeing a swoop for Neil at Blackburn Rovers, had he stayed there and Sunderland failed to get out of League One.

Mowbray has often said that the challenge for Sunderland is to grow to Premier-League level as quickly as these players do. The major positive for the Black Cats is that this new deal protects them if they don't. The other major positive is that Neil has every intention right now of being there when they do.

The only major caveat? It might not always be this straightforward, as Mowbray explained.