TONY Mowbray admits the future of Sunderland loanee Edouard Michut is out of his hands, with club chiefs approaching transfer decision-time.

Michut is on a season-long loan from PSG with Sunderland having the option of making the deal permanent in the summer.

The 20-year-old has impressed and grown into his first campaign on Wearside, making 17 Championship appearances - 10 of which have been starts - and getting a run in the side on the back of Corry Evans suffering a season-ending injury.

His displays have turned heads elsewhere, with Fulham reportedly monitoring Michut's situation.

Mowbray is a big fan of Michut as a player and person but what happens in the summer isn't down to the head coach. Club officials will make the final call, says Mowbray, and the decision will come down to whether they've seen enough to suggest Michut can make a real impact in the Championship and that there's potential of making profit on the midfielder in the future.

Mowbray said: "I don't think that's my decision, it's up to those who make that decision on whatever that number (transfer fee) might be. Is he contributing enough or has he got the potential to contribute enough to be an asset for the football club?

"For me, I just work with the footballers and wring as much growth out of them as we can.

"Edouard is showing that he is a good footballer. Where might he be a bit down the line? Will the division be easier for him because he's adapted? Only time will tell.

"If that decision has to be made in the summer then it won't be mine, the club will have to decide whether they see a player who can turn millions into multi-millions somewhere in the future. First and foremost, Edouard has to stay in the team. At the moment he's getting the opportunity which is great because he's showing everyone what he can do."

The language and communication barrier has been an issue with some of Sunderland's young overseas signings this season but Mowbray says Michut has settled in well and he likes the fact the midfielder has "personality".

If Michut does indeed stay on Wearside, Mowbray believes there's much more to come in an attacking sense from the youngster, who scored his first Sunderland goal in the recent defeat to Sheffield United.

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Mowbray says: “Edouard tells me that his character is typically French. Now, I don’t know what that means. What I do know is that he likes to sulk, moan and throw his arms around, so maybe that’s what he means. He certainly likes to gesticulate with his hands. Is that typically French? I don’t know.

 “I tell him he has to fight with the body he’s got. That’s what he has to do. It’s no good him saying, ‘well I can’t play against that big six foot four midfield player, he’s too strong’. He has to do it. He has to fight with his body, and to be fair to him, he does put his body in.

"If he does that and he gets knocked over, then it’s a foul and he gets a free-kick and on we play. He’s got that quality where he can almost slither under a player with a bigger frame and get past him, and obviously once he’s on the ball, we know he’s a very talented boy.

“He has an opinion of how he is as a footballer. You can sometimes see me screaming at him from the sidelines, and he’s looking over and saying, ‘shut up’. Listen, I don’t mind that. I like personality in footballers. I like footballers to have a character, as long as they’re respectful and understand that when we’re talking about football, it’s never personal.

"If there’s things he has to improve on, then he has to work hard on them. He can’t just say, ‘I don’t believe, I don’t understand’, because he’ll find that if he doesn’t work on the things we want him to work on, he won’t play. But he’s a good lad – I like Edouard – and he’s a good footballer.

"Let’s see where the future is for him. Hopefully, he cements his place in the team and everybody talks about him as we move forward because he can see pictures on the pitch.

"He showed the other night (against Sheffield United) that he’s a very good finisher. I’ve been saying that for a while in training, he smashes it in the net on a regular basis.

"We have to get him further forward, and we’re trying to develop systems where we can do that. That could be bringing the opposite side full-back inside to play as a screening midfielder, which pushes him higher, almost as a ‘high eight’ to play in and around the box. Hopefully, he’ll score goals and become the footballer that he wants to be.”