Stewart Donald reveals why Ellis Short WON'T get Didier Ndong compensation money

The Gabon midfielder was served notice on his contract in September and then the two parties reached an agreement over his deal last month.

It leaves Ndong him free to join another club providing the Black Cats are provided with compensation, believed to be in the region of £3.5million-£4million.

Had Ndong been sold in the summer, that fee would have gone to previous owner Ellis Short under the terms of the takeover deal which saw Donald take control of SAFC.

Short had valued Ndong at £8million, which was included in the original cashflow budget, but Donald and Charlie Methven negotiated it out of the asking price for the club.

Asked about whether the money would go to Short, Donald replied: "No. The agreement was that if Ndong was sold in the summer then it would go to Ellis immediately but that our future payments would reduce by the equivalent amount.

"The future payment it related to has already now been paid so the clause regarding Ndong is no longer applicable."

Ndong - who saw moves to Torino and Benfica fall through in the summer - has been linked with a move to Russian side FC Rostov in January.