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After months of speculation, Seb Larsson has finally signed a new contract with Sunderland that will commit his future to the club until 2017.
The Swedish international's previous contract was about to expire and with Sunderland unable to offer the midfielder a new deal until our Premier League safety had been assured, it had looked as if Larsson would be leaving the club with West Ham, Stoke, Galatasaray, Napoli and Borussia Monchengladbach, amongst others, all linked with a move for the player.
That speculation has now ended with the player, who turns 29 on Friday, signing a three-year contract and Larsson spoke with safc.com to explain why he had chosen to stay at the Stadium of Light;
I'm delighted to have signed a new deal with the club.
I've had talks with Gus and Lee Congerton and I feel that this is a club moving in the right direction and I want to be part of it.
I had a few options but I want to be at Sunderland and I'm looking forward to the new season.
Anders Carlsson, CEO of NSky Agency who represent Larsson, said of the contract;
It's the single largest contract our agency ever negotiated for any player.
Larsson's previous contract was thought to be worth around £21,000 per week, with his new deal providing the midfielder with a significant wage increase.
With a lot of movement expected in the transfer market from the club during this window, getting Larsson to sign a new contract should provide extra continuity to the team and will be one less player that needs to be replaced. Should he replicate the form he had during Sunderland's remarkable run-in, he could well prove to be a shrewd piece of business.
