Sunderland are set to earn themselves some cash after Southampton beat Leeds United in the Championship play-off final at the weekend.
The two sides came up against each other at Wembley Stadium, a year after they were both relegated from the Premier League.
After finishing three points behind the Whites, Adam Armstrong’s first-half goal proved to be the difference in the English capital and sent the Saints straight back to the top flight.
One player who could now be playing Premier League football without really lifting a finger is Ross Stewart, who left Sunderland for the south-coast last summer.
The striker had been sidelined for the best part of 19 months in total, but Southampton were still prepared to pay up to £10 million for his signature half way through his injury-ridden spell.
Stewart made his return to action just last month, making only four senior appearances before earning himself a place in the Premier League.
Sunderland set to pocket seven figures from Southampton’s success
It has proved very financially beneficial to the Black Cats, who accepted a bid of £8 million plus £2m in add-ons last summer.
The extra £2m was expected to be paid to Sunderland if Southampton won promotion, and despite Stewart not stepping foot on the Wembley pitch, the Wearside outfit will now pocket another seven figures.
It’s a huge sum for a club who don’t seem to have the cash to splash this term, and could allow them to bring in another first-team player.
Many fans were gutted when Stewart left the Stadium of Light, having scored 40 goals in 80 appearances for the club. However, it has turned out to be a brilliant bit of business.
Ross Stewart’s exit was excellent business from Sunderland
Stewart was out of contract this summer anyway, so if we had chosen to keep him last year then he could have left for free.
The Scot picked up another injury as soon as he signed for the Saints too, so if he had stayed on Wearside then the club would have missed out on £10m and only got a few appearances out of him before he was made a free agent.
There is no doubt that the Black Cats are really missing him, but they certainly made the best out of a bad situation.
Having spent the rest of the Stewart money on the likes of Nazariy Rusyn and Romaine Mundle, Sunderland now really need to invest smartly with the extra £2m that they have now received.