Elliot Embleton has agreed a new contract at Sunderland - with a formal announcement expected by the beginning of next week.
The 20-year-old academy product has continued to train with the Black Cats despite his contract expiring at the end of June, but negotiations have been ongoing between his representatives and the club.
And Sunderland manager Jack Ross has now confirmed that agreement has been reached and the England Under 20 international has committed his future to the Wearsiders.
“Elliot will sign his contract at the beginning of next week,” said Ross following Sunderland’s 2-0 pre-season friendly victory at South Shields tonight.
“It’s all been agreed, the paperwork is just being drawn up, and all being well if it is not done tomorrow it will be done by the beginning of next week.
“I’m really pleased because I was keen for him to stay at the club and I am happy he has committed.
“If he ever leaves us, he should only do so if he’s given himself a chance to be a first team player at Sunderland.
“He’s a talented footballer, there’s no doubt about that.
“I see him now as a first team squad member and he trains with me every day.”
Embleton spent time on loan at League Two Grimsby Town last season but is set to be part of Ross’ plans this season, as is fellow midfielder Ethan Robson who had a loan spell at Dundee last term.
Ross said: “I think I’d classify Elliot and Ethan together because they were in very similar positions last year.
“They both had the experience of playing in tough competitive leagues. I think Elliot needed to do it and Ethan, rather than not playing, needed to do it too.
“They have matured into first team players as a result and I have been really pleased with them since they came back, and they will now have every opportunity to play.
“I don’t think we should be obsessed with recruiting from elsewhere when we have played like that coming through our own system, because to find players like that with their attributes is not easy and you would have to go and pay a lot of money for them.
“They just have to add the little bits extra to their game that means they can play first team football every week.”
Robson scored the opening goal in the first half as Sunderland made a winning start to their pre-season campaign at Mariners Park, with Luke O’Nien scoring the second goal shortly after half-time.
Ross used 22 players in the game, giving as many players as possible the opportunity to get game time.
Ross said: “It was good for the players in terms of getting back out on the pitch because since we came back it has been pretty relentless - we were training again today before the game.
“The best way for me to gauge it is for me to rewind 12 months and think about our opening game of pre-season last year at Darlington, where we were as a squad, as a club, and how it felt, and we are a lot further ahead now than we were at that time,
“Pre-season has really been about conditioning and it is only in the last few days that we have looked at the tactical aspect of it but you can see the impact.
“There were parts tonight that were good, and parts that we need to work on and that we will work on.”
Sunderland will play an in-house, behind-closed-doors, friendly at the Academy of Light on Saturday before heading out to Portugal next week, where they will play Benfica B on Thursday night, and Belenenses two days later.
They will round off their pre-season with a home friendly against Dutch side Heerenveen on July 27, a week before their League One campaign begins against Oxford United at the Stadium of Light.
