AFTER years of over-spending, it seems Ellis Short is open to the idea of selling Sunderland if the right deal comes along.

Short has not publicly stated he is ready to offload the club he bought back in 2009 from the Drumaville Consortium, but the Sunderland owner is understood to have had discussions with interested parties, at least through his representatives in recent months, even if nothing is imminent.

Short believes Sunderland is in need of new investment from somewhere, having ploughed more than £200m of his own money into the club to underwrite the debt (most recently quoted at £141m).

There was interest from global financial powerhouse China earlier this year and there are other Chinese consortiums looking to take over Premier League clubs; like they have at a number already.

But sources close to the club insist Short, who paid around £20m for Sunderland seven years ago, is not at the desperation stage of trying to offload Sunderland, and has told chief executive Martin Bain to do what he can to turn things around at the Stadium of Light.

As things stand that involves standing by David Moyes as they look to preserve Sunderland's place in the Premier League cash cow.

The manager Short appointed in July has had to endure growing flak from sections of supporters since the final whistle was blown at Stoke City on Saturday, when another defeat left the Black Cats chasing a four-point gap to safety already.

There have already been calls for Moyes to go from some, albeit mainly on a social media platform, but isn’t that just because Sunderland are in the habit of doing that?

Martin O’Neill, Paolo di Canio, Gus Poyet and Dick Advocaat … it’s that time of year anyway. October: when Sunderland tend to change the manager in a bid to turn things around.

Those calling for further change can, perhaps rightly, argue it could lead to a greater chance of Premier League survival. After all, it has worked in recent years, hasn’t it?

But Sunderland is a club crying out for stability. Moyes has made mistakes, like spending some of the cash he was granted on young players who would find it hard to start, but there should also be no disguising the extent of the injury problems he has encountered.

Such headaches would have rocked any club in the division and he has never tried to hide the fact Sunderland were heading for a relegation battle in his first season – even if that was not what many fans wanted to hear.

On the evidence of the first eight games of the season, Sunderland could well go down this time around. It feels different and an even greater lift, probably from the players who are not due back from injury for a while, is required if they are to avoid the drop.

Moyes clearly does not want that to happen and maybe pressure from the fans and Short will mean his reign comes to an early end anyway, but Sunderland can’t afford another state of flux.

Rather than the constant change a new managerial appointment would bring, they have an experienced manager who the supporters were happy to see take over from Sam Allardyce.

The former Everton and Manchester United boss may not have been able to bring in the numbers he wanted during the summer, but he has put his own stamp on the squad and will look to make further changes down the line. That’s provided he is afforded the time.

If a buyer came along to tempt Short into selling then the situation could change, but that does not look like being any time soon.

Moyes deserves a crack at transforming the fortunes of Sunderland and has already struck up a fantastic working relationship with fellow Scot Bain, which bodes well for a brighter future in the boardroom.

But would another different manager – an eighth in the last five years - really make a long term difference? The guess is it would just lead to even more disruption and a case of history repeating itself even if Sunderland did survive without him come May.

Moyes, knowing a trip to West Ham is followed by a visit from Arsenal in the Premier League when he is unlikely to have any of his sidelined players back, faces a tough task to keep Sunderland up, but it would be just the same for any successor.