TONY MOWBRAY claims Sunderland’s owners are comfortable with the prospect of Ross Stewart running down his contract and are not desperately looking to sell the striker this month.

Stewart, who is not expected to return from his long-term Achilles injury until the end of September, has entered the final 12 months of his current deal at the Stadium of Light, and while a number of discussions have taken place over a new contract, an agreement has proved impossible to broker.

The impasse has led to mounting speculation over Stewart’s long-term future, with Southampton, Stoke City and Rangers all having been linked with a potential move for his services in the last couple of weeks.

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As things stand, though, Sunderland have not received a formal offer for the Scotland international, raising the possibility of him heading to January, and potentially even the end of the season, without a change to the current status quo.

That could mean Stewart leaving for nothing when his contract expires next summer, but if that was to happen, Mowbray does not feel Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman would be unduly concerned at the prospect of missing out on a possible transfer fee.

“I genuinely don’t think the club are over-stressing on it,” said the Sunderland boss, who side head to Preston for their first away game of the season tomorrow. “What did he cost? It certainly wasn’t millions and millions.

“I don’t think the club are over-stressing. They’re making him offers that they think are special in the context of where our football club is at the moment. We’re not just trying to give him a good contract – we’re trying to make it an incredibly good contract for him in terms of where he is, and our club is, at the moment.

“Hopefully, in a few years’ time, this club will be offering lots and lots more money to their best players because the club will have progressed and either got to the Premier League or be right on the cusp of that. But as the club is building from League One, you have to be careful.

“I think the club are quite comfortable with it. We’re disappointed that he hasn’t got a new three, four or five-year contract under his belt, but we’re just moving forward.

“You could say there will be implications if we don’t sell him – how much could we get for him, x amount of millions, we could invest that back into the team. Yes, and if there was a suitable bid that the club agreed with, that’s potentially what would happen.

“If the bid was derisory, then I’m sure we would rather have him scoring goals and helping us win football matches, and see where he could take us in the league.”

In that scenario, Stewart could potentially leave as a free agent next summer, having played through the final year of his deal.

It can potentially be unsettling for a player to run down his contract, but on the other hand, there are also plenty of examples of footballers excelling in the final season of their deal despite knowing they will almost certainly be moving on the following summer.

“The boy’s in control of all these situations,” said Mowbray. “He’s in the last year of his contract, and if we can’t meet the needs of what he wants, then he’ll let that contract run down.

“The club can then decide whether they want to sell him or keep him. Then you might have a situation that we’ve seen in football lots of times before (where he plays through the final year of his deal). Ben Brereton Diaz did it at Blackburn last season. He ran his contract right down, but still scored plenty of goals last season and was working hard and was his side’s main goal threat.

“If Ross Stewart decides he wants to try something different (next summer), then I think we all have to respect that and he will have honoured his contract. Hopefully, when he does play for us once he’s fit, he’s scoring goals and showing the world what a talent he is.”