Lee Cattermole has admitted that he is glad he did not leave Sunderland during the January transfer window.
The midfielder was heavily linked with a move to Stoke City, who were said to have lodged two bids for his services.
However, following talks with manager Gus Poyet and chairman Ellis Short, the 25-year-old remained at the Stadium of Light - something that has pleased him.
"Obviously there was an interest there at the time. It had been talked about for several weeks, though I'd heard nothing and then on the last day of the window news came of Stoke's interest," he told the Sunderland Echo. "It all felt a bit rushed to me and I had a good chat to the manager - he told me he didn't want me to go and I told him I didn't want to go.
"So then it was only going to be a case of whether those higher up wanted it to happen - it was out of our hands if the chairman decided he wanted the move to happen. The chairman told me later on that he'd said to the manager: 'If you don't want Lee to go, then he won't go.' So that was good to hear, that the manager had the backing of the chairman to keep me at Sunderland."
Cattermole joined the Black Cats from Wigan Athletic in 2009.
Liam Apicella
