"The Rock" Wants To Stay at Sunderland

John Mensah wants to turn his loan deal at the stadium of light into a permanent one.

The Ghanaian`s agent, Fabien Piveteau, announced that the defender has his heart set on staying up in Wearside beyond the expiry of his season-long loan from Lyon.

Piveteau said: 'John definitely wants to stay.

'He wants to be at Sunderland very much.

'He likes the club, he loves the atmosphere of the crowd and the supporters and he sees Sunderland as his future if they want him to stay.

'It is a loan deal but he has always wanted to stay.

'There have been no discussions yet between the manager and John but they have to take up an option before May 30 if they want to keep him, so we will see what happens.'

Although Mensah hasn`t has the most consistent of seasons due to injury, his impact in the back four has been outstanding.

He has only made seven appearances for the Black Cats and boss Steve Bruce will want to see more before he decides on progressing the deal further.

The 27-year-old looks to have kept his spot in the centre of defence after coming through the arsenal game with out injury.

But the Sunderland medical team will reassess his occurring injuries in the next few months to see if Mensah is capable of playing in the Premier League