Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has said that he will do everything in his power to keep hold of Stephane Sessegnon.
The Frenchman has been linked with a move away from the Stadium of Light following an impressive campaign in the Premier League, with Manchester City said to be interested.
O'Neill has refused to promise that Sessegnon will be a Black Cats player come next season, but said that he is pleased with the 28-year-old's reaction to the speculation.
"You can never tell what's going to happen over the summer and I don't want to be saying anything categorically at the start of it which will make us look foolish at the end of it," O'Neill told the Sunderland Echo.
"I don't want to say something now which will be thrown back at me next season with people saying: 'Well you said this, or you said that'. But there's no doubt Stephane Sessegnon is a player that we obviously want to keep and we'll be doing everything we can to do so.
"Stephane has been making the right noises about being happy to stay at Sunderland and hopefully that will be the case."
Sessegnon arrived in the North East from Paris Saint-Germain during the January transfer window in 2011.
