AIDEN MCGEADY HAS boosted Sunderland’s hopes of ending a four-year stay in League One by committing to a new contract.

The 35-year-old winger, whose previous deal expired at the end of the 2020-21 season, has signed up for another year with the Black Cats.

“I’m pleased to have signed a new contract at the club and I’m looking forward to the new season,” the Republic of Ireland international said this afternoon. “I’m happy at Sunderland and since returning to the team under Lee Johnson. I feel that my performances have shown that.

“We all know what the ambition is for next season and I’ve made no secret of the fact that I want to be part of the team that goes back up. My focus is to play and perform for Sunderland for as long as I can.”

In the 133 appearances he has made since joining Sunderland from Everton in 2017, McGeady has contributed 30 goals and 33 assists.

Having fallen out with previous manager Phil Parkinson, he excelled for the Stadium of Light outfit after being restored to the team by Lee Johnson, Parkinson’s successor, and was selected in the League One Team of the Season as Sunderland missed out on promotion by losing to Lincoln City in the play-off semi-finals. 

“We are delighted to welcome Aiden back to the club,” Johnson said of McGeady, who won the last of his 93 senior Ireland caps in the play-off defeat to Denmark for the 2018 World Cup.

“I have a strong relationship with him on a football level and I think he’s produced since we’ve come in. A player of his age has to produce and that’s why he’s here – to make other players better.

“I’ve not only been impressed by his output in terms of assists, but his buy-in to the philosophy and club identity.”