Sunderland star eyed by Liverpool and Burnley sets sights on Premier League football, but with the Black Cats

Sunderland star Dan Neil has full belief that he can step up to the Premier League with the Black Cats after drawing summer interest from the top-flight.

Sunderland midfielder Neil has been in and around the first-team picture on Wearside for some time now. The 21-year-old has 115 Black Cats appearances to his name and has played every minute of Championship football so far this season.

Neil has been one of the division’s most impressive midfielders this season, and his abilities garnered admiring glances in the summer. Liverpool and Burnley were rumoured to be interested, but the South Shields native stayed put.

He merely signed a new contract in March, which keeps him on the team until the summer of 2026. Now, Neil has stated that his belief in Sunderland’s ability to rise to the Premier League was a major factor in his choice to devote his future to the club.

According to the Sunderland Echo, Neil expressed his desire to play in the Premier League as follows:

“That’s why I signed the contract; I really like the philosophy here.” Listen, I landed on my feet when the ideology was introduced because I was an 18-year-old youngster on the outskirts of the first-team.

“I can’t thank the club enough for giving me invaluable experience week in and week out for the last two, three years, including a promotion and nearly another.”

“I have complete confidence in this team. I know it appears youthful on paper, but I believe we are more than capable of competing at the top of the table and, hopefully, achieving our aim of returning to the Premier League.

Destined for the Premier League?

There are plenty of top young players on the books at Sunderland and midfielder Neil is certainly among the best of them. He’s got a vast amount of senior experience to his name at only 21 and his ever-present position in Tony Mowbray’s side shows just how important he is to the team.

It’s inevitable that a player of his quality is going to draw high-profile interest given his age. However, the Black Cats are an ambitious club and last season’s play-off push shows that they’re an upwardly mobile one despite the young squad they possess.