Josh Maja has claimed that he never really wanted to leave Sunderland, 11 months on from his departure from the Stadium of Light.

The striker, who had been a revelation for Sunderland during the first half of last season - scoring 15 goals in 24 league appearances - would leave the club in January to join French side Bordeaux - for an undisclosed fee that Black Cats chairman Stewart Donald admitted was a bad deal for the League One club.

Donald himself was adamant that Maja had wanted to stay at the Stadium of Light, despite the fact that the striker's contract had been set to expire in the summer, and the 20-year-old now appears to have confirmed that himself.

Speaking to The Sunderland Echo about the negotiations that eventually saw him move to France, Maja said: “It was a bit of...it was up and down.

“Basically, I wanted to stay. Given the right contract, I would have stayed.

“But at the time, I don’t think Sunderland were prepared to give me what I wanted so when the opportunity to play in one of Europe’s top five leagues came up, I couldn’t turn that down."

It seems that that call to leave Sunderland is not one that Maja took lightly, as he added: “It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was one which to improve my career and my game I think I had to make.”

Reflecting on that decision to ultimately leave Sunderland, which perhaps not surprisingly did not go down well with members of the club's fanbase, Maja continued: “I have ambitions in my career and in my life and this is just a stepping stone for me.

“I want to keep pushing and fans need to understand what players want for themselves. Even though that is a bit selfish, it’s a selfish game, isn’t it?

“For me, it was important to make that move and playing at a higher level, it’s a given.”

Since making that move to Bordeaux, Maja has made 19 appearances for the club - who are currently seventh in the French top flight - in all competitions, scoring on three occasions.

The Verdict

You imagine this will be a frustrating read for Sunderland fans.

Considering the way they missed out on promotion - with too many wins turning into draws - it could be argued that had they had someone with Maja's goalscoring abilities throughout the course of the campaign, things would have been different.

The fact therefore that Maja has admitted here that he was willing to stay at Stadium of Light beyond the end of his current contract, is only going to rub salt into the wounds here, given Sunderland's current situation.

That being said, you can understand why Maja was keen to take that opportunity to move to a club like Bordeaux, and you can't blame him for wanting to look after himself here, since there is no guarantees about what may or not happen for him in his career going forward.