Out-of-contract Sunderland player hints at timeline of decision over his future

The 25-year-old joined on a short-term deal in January and has played a vital part as the North East club won promotion to the Championship via the League One play-offs.

Roberts’ deal is set to expire next month and, speaking to the Northern Echo, he discussed his future and when a decision might be made.

Pressed on whether he knew where his future lay, he said: “No idea to be honest. I’ll think about it in the next few weeks. I’ll enjoy tonight and see where it goes from there.”

The winger barely missed a minute during Sunderland’s play-off run and bagged the stoppage-time goal against Sheffield Wednesday that sent them to the final at Wembley.

A product of the Fulham and Manchester City academies, Roberts bounced around clubs on loan ahead of his permanent move to the Stadium of Light in January and has struggled to recreate the form he showed at Celtic early on in his career.

The Verdict

It appears Roberts is yet to make a decision about his future and whether it lies with Sunderland – though that could be made in the next few weeks.

The 25-year-old has proved his value to Alex Neil in the latter part of the 2021/22 campaign and is surely someone that the Scottish coach would want to keep ahead of the return to the Championship.

That said, they’d prefer to get a new deal wrapped up sooner rather than later or turn their focus to finding a replacement.

Given how he’s bounced around since his impressive loan spell at Celtic four years ago, you feel staying at a club where he appears to be enjoying his football would make a lot of sense.

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