Adnan Januzaj has insisted that he does care about the Premier League fate of Sunderland, even if he will not be at the club next season.
The on-loan Manchester United forward will return to Old Trafford in the summer regardless of how the final throes of the Black Cats' season pans out.
While the commitment of loan players can often be called into question, Januzaj claims that pride alone is enough of a reason to give his all for the club between now and the end of the campaign.
"There might be some players who don't care on loan," the Sunderland Chronicle quotes him as saying. "I am not like this. I have never been selfish. I always want my teams to win. I don't like to lose.
"People might think I don't care because I am only on loan, but when you look at it I've also done the bad side of the job, the horrible side of the job, defending, that's because I care. People always think he is just on loan, he doesn't care really.
"It is not like that. When I lose games as well, I don't like losing, I don't even want to go out eating or anything. It is just my mentality. When I go, I want Sunderland to be in the Premier League and say to people I was at Sunderland and we stayed up."
Sunderland are currently bottom of the Premier League table and six points from safety ahead of their meeting with Burnley on Saturday afternoon.