Sunderland now look relatively relaxed in their bid to keep hold of their prized assets.
There was a bit of panic on Wearside last month as the likes of Jack Clarke, Dan Neil, Pierre Ekwah and Trai Hume were all linked with the exit door.
However, Sunderland have so far kept hold of all of their players and there hasn’t been any progression made on the outside noise.
Neil’s future never looked too concerning, despite rejecting a new contract in June.
However, that was believed to be because of the uncertainty around the club, with Regis Le Bris yet to be appointed.
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Dan Neil ‘wants’ to take Sunderland to the Premier League
Neil still hasn’t put pen to paper on a new deal, but he has been tipped to stay at the Stadium of Light and really ‘loves it’ at his boyhood club.
The Sunderland Echo wrote: “Neil has two years left to run on his current deal but Sunderland want to secure his future given his impressive progress and the persistent top-flight interest in his performances.
“Neil knocked back an initial offer earlier this summer with there being a lot of uncertainty around the club at the time, but he loves it here and ideally wants to get to the Premier League in red-and-white.”
Keeping Neil could be one of Sunderland’s best bits of business
Neil rejecting the club’s opening offer certainly doesn’t mean he won’t sign another, and there has been many predictions that will remain at Sunderland beyond the summer.
The ‘wonderful’ midfielder is one of the players that the Black Cats surely wouldn’t even consider selling, and if they did it would have to be for a fee that no club would believe he was worth.
Neil is comfortably one of Sunderland’s most important players, and if he is allowed to push further forward and play with more freedom this term, then he could become one of the best players in the Championship too.
There is no doubt the 22-year-old will be one of the first names on the team-sheet under Le Bris, then it is down to the likes of Jobe Bellingham, Chris Rigg and Alan Browne to fight it out for the other places.
Neil is captain material and if he sticks around long enough, we will soon see the makings of an England international – having picked up glimpses already.
After tying down Dan Ballard and Rigg, keeping hold of Neil would be a real statement and could push the club on for a really promising campaign.