HE has already starred in Scotland and Turkey, but Jason Denayer is determined use the next nine months to prove his Premier League pedigree with Sunderland.

Since joining Manchester City in 2013, Denayer has won the Scottish Young Player of the Year award during a loan spell at Celtic and set up Galatasaray’s winner in the Turkish Cup final during a season-long spell in Istanbul.

However, while he has played for Manchester City in pre-season friendlies and won seven senior caps for Belgium, he is still to make his first appearance in the Premier League.

That could change on Monday, with Denayer in contention for a place in Sunderland’s starting line-up against Everton having come through the full 90 minutes of Tuesday’s Checkatrade Trophy game at Rochdale, and the 21-year-old cannot wait to experience life in the English top-flight.

“I need to prove I can play in the Premier League now,” said the centre-half. “I have played in some good leagues so far, but they have not been the very top leagues like the Premier League is.

“Everybody knows the Premier League is the best league in the world, so if I can do what I have done at my other clubs in the Premier League, it will be a big step for me. It will be good for Sunderland, and a big step in my career too.”

Denayer could have returned to Galatasaray this summer, with the Turkish club having made a number of attempts to re-sign him on another season-long loan.

He could also have opted to remain at Manchester City in an attempt to impress Pep Guardiola, potentially appearing in his permanent employers’ EFL and FA Cup matches and a handful of Champions League group games.

However, having turned 21 this summer, and played for Belgium in the quarter-finals of the European Championships, he feels it is important to start proving himself on the biggest of stages.

“I think I’m at the right stage in my career to make this move,” he said. “I cannot keep just waiting and waiting all my life. This is the right thing for me to do now, but I know I need to work hard and improve a lot because it is not going to be easy.”

He will be competing with Lamine Kone, Papy Djilobodji and John O’Shea for a place in Sunderland’s starting line-up, although David Moyes has hinted he is considering playing with three centre-halves in a number of matches this season.

Denayer’s speed and athleticism were immediately apparent on Tuesday night, albeit against League One opposition, and while there were a couple of understandable signs of rustiness, he does not anticipate it being long before he is operating at full tilt.

“Physically, I am really well,” he said. “I am 100 per cent and good to play. There are just a few things tactically where I need to adapt to what the club wants. I will be doing everything I can to do that and improve.

“I’m happy to have started playing games because I wasn’t able to play a lot of games in pre-season or at the start of the season. It’s good to be playing now. It’s good to get back on the pitch, and it’s always important to get that first game for a new club out of the way.

“It was a tough game. There were a lot of long balls, and a lot of duels with the opposition attackers. It felt like a throwback to going to somewhere like St Johnstone when I was playing with Celtic. It was good to be involved in a game like that though.”

And having spent most of his summer wondering where he would be playing this season, Denayer is understandably pleased to have resolved his future so successfully on deadline day.

“It was a little bit stressful because right up to the last day, even up to the last hour, you were waiting,” he said. “You were not really sure whether the move was actually going to happen or not. It has happened now though, so I am really relaxed and cool.

“It was not a difficult decision because I want to play, and playing in the Premier League was the most important thing. It will be good for me to be able to do that. It was not difficult once I found out Sunderland were interested – it was an easy move.”