Why Sunderland sold Ross Stewart to Southampton, why new contract wasn't agreed & what it all means for the future

It was, in the end, a deal that Russell Martin said ‘suited all parties’.

With any hope that a new deal could be agreed long extinguished, Sunderland were left with a choice.

Sell Ross Stewart now and have funds to reinvest into the squad, or hope that his goals could fire Sunderland to an even bigger financial prize before he potentially (or probably) left on a free transfer next summer. Given Sunderland’s business model the former was always going to be the frontrunner, and particularly when Stewart’s achilles injury added another layer to the potential gamble of keeping him around.

Had they been faced with lowball offers, they might well have taken the risk. But Southampton changed the picture by returning last week with an initial offer that made clear they would eventually be prepared to hit Sunderland’s valuation by the time the transfer window closed. For a player recovering from an injury and potentially available for nothing next summer, a deal worth initially £8 million and potentially £12 million in the long run makes obvious sense even if the sight of such a talismanic striker wearing another club’s shirt sparks an inevitable wince.

For Southampton, the gamble is a calculated one. As Martin explained, with both Che Adams and Adam Armstrong in their ranks, they can be patient in getting Stewart back up to full fitness. When that happens, he will offer a very different option to what they have and if he replicates last season’s goalscoring form, it could make all the difference.

Win promotion and that investment is already a drop in the ocean. Having raised an almighty sum in outgoing transfers over the course of the summer, the stakes are not so high and it could eventually prove to be a savvy acquisition given that fully fit and with different contractual circumstances, Stewart’s value would clearly be significantly higher. 

Though Stewart’s long recent absence may have taken something of the sting out of his departure for Sunderland and their supporters, there is undeniably the feeling of an opportunity lost.

Stewart was a genuine gem of a discovery, pound for pound one of the best signings the club has made in the modern era. Yet he has left for what is probably less than his full value, for a division rival and a sense of what might have been had he been around for another 18 months. Stewart can score but he can also run and he can also press and he can also make it stick; the experience of the last three to four windows has shown that these allrounders are not easily found.

In terms of a new contract the deal was there to be done, at least in principle.

Stewart’s preference was to stay and commit his long-term future to the club. The striker, as Martin said on Saturday, ‘absolutely loved it’ in the North East. He basked in the glow of the supporter’s affections and was genuinely moved by the way his name was so thunderously sung on the terraces up and down the country. The long, hard years of Stewart’s journey to the top only served to underline his understanding of how special all of this was, to have this platform and this opportunity week in, week out.

That same journey to this stage, though, made this contract negotiation crucial.

Sunderland have under sporting director Kristjaan Speakman proven to be pleasingly proactive on contractual matters, regularly getting ahead of the curve and reaching new agreements that reward player and protect club.

Stewart was different on a couple of fronts. For one he is a striker, and financially the starting point is invariably different to any other position on the pitch. In they end, they are the difference makers in this game. It’s also true that Stewart was in a very different stage of his career and his life to so many of those who have signed new deals within the confines of Sunderland’s strict wage structure.

Unlike so many of Sunderland’s talented youngsters, he does not have a handful of long-term contracts waiting on the horizon. At 27, he will not have countless opportunities to get to the Premier League and all that offers. And having worked his way up through the non-league system in Scotland, he has not been earning from the early stages of his career in the way that those from top-tier academies do.

If there was a moment when the gap between the two parties could have been bridged, it was probably in the aftermath of Sunderland’s promotion from League One. Stewart was eager to sign and told his head coaches (first Alex Neil and then Tony Mowbray) as such, and both were initially confident an agreement would be reached. Given his rise and importance to the team, it appeared to be a matter of time.

Sunderland’s inability or unwillingness to hit that magic number meant the moment passed and when Stewart began to score regularly in the Championship, it was all but over. Teams with budgets way in excess of Sunderland’s were now going to be prepared to offer him a deal well beyond what had previously been discussed. The long goodbye had now begun.

There would be some level of contact made on the club’s part in the months that followed, but they remained only a fraction of what would be on offer elsewhere and more to the point, what other top Championship strikers would expect to earn.

It is to the credit of both parties that the situation never became acrimonious or played out to any great public drama, a sign that perhaps all recognised that they were now just inevitably on different paths.

By the time Southampton’s bid arrived, perhaps both had begun to feel a little spurned by each other’s reluctance to meet each other’s terms. When it came down to it, Stewart was valued greater elsewhere and so in signalling his desire to take that opportunity elsewhere, he did what the vast majority would do in any career, any industry.

So why didn’t Sunderland just meet Stewart’s demands? After all, the goal is to get to the Premier League and no one could argue that their chances are greater without Stewart. And if the goal is to compete with teams like Southampton, then surely at some stage the Black Cats have to begin spending on that level?

Sunderland’s response would be that yes, that is true. Their plan, though, is to gradually build their way to that level. The argument behind the scenes was that to get Stewart to agree, they would not only have had to break their pay structure but do so significantly. That would have then changed the dynamic of every contract negotiation, either with current players or potential acquisitions. The argument follows is that soon the wage bill has spiralled and you begin to reach the point where losses rack up and though no issue as it stands, financial fair play can begin to loom.

Without parachute payments and without the significant owner-backed losses which have caused such major strife for the clubs who have gambled and not won promotion (after all, there are no guarantees in football), Sunderland believe that steady growth and the occasional significant sale are the bedrock on which they will grow the team. 

It is also fair to wonder that particularly over the last six months, Stewart’s injury added another factor in their calculations given the sums involved. 

The reason all of this matters is because it is highly unlikely that this is the last time this debate will occur. Sunderland now need to secure Patrick Roberts to a new deal but the interest from Southampton on deadline day has shown what could be on offer elsewhere. The same will apply to Jack Clarke and many others, somewhere down the track.

Stewart’s long goodbye gets to the heart of the question that underpins this whole Sunderland project: How far can you get without pushing to the level of those clubs around you, and at what point do you begin to do that?

The Black Cats hierarchy would argue that while not ideal, the significant profit made on Stewart is an important step in that process.

How their decisions on Stewart are viewed in time will also hang on how both Mason Burstow and Nazariy Rusyn fare in the season ahead, and Luis Hemir and Eliezer Mayenda beyond them.

Sunderland are trying to do things differently and so far, their model has proved relatively resilient. It has also, beyond any doubt, produced a hugely exciting, technically-gifted team capable of going toe-to-toe with ones whose budget and level of experience is significantly greater. 

The question of whether and when it can deliver promotion is an altogether different one. Stewart’s departure both pushes that end goal further away and conversely brings it a little nearer, if the funds can grow the project as planned. 

Doing so is vital to sustaining the belief and patience of a fanbase who recognise the merits of the path being followed, but understandably expect a club of their stature to keep taking the next step and especially at this level.

Stewart’s own place in Sunderland history is enshrined. Forty goals at a rate of one every other game, a key architect in the club’s rise from the doldrums and the man whose strike that changed everything, in front of nearly 50,000 at Wembley. Not a bad legacy, all told.