Sunderland midfielder Jan Kirchhoff is keen to extend his stay on Wearside by signing an improved contract with the club.

The former German under-21 international only moved to the Stadium of Light from Bayern Munich in January, but he played a crucial role in helping the club preserve their Premier League status, featuring in 15 matches towards the end of the campaign.

Kirchoff is now entering the final year of his contract with the Black Cats, but the 25-year-old insists he is happy to remain with the club, and he is confident the two parties will agree a new deal soon.

“I don’t want to talk too much about contract details,” he said.

“But I can imagine staying here at Sunderland, I feel good here and I would like to stay. I think we will find a solution.”

Kirchhoff played his first 90 minutes of pre-season during Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over Dijon, after sustaining a calf injury earlier this month, and he admits that he was pleased to get some minutes under his belt ahead of the new campaign.

He added: “It was good for me to get back into training and into a match like this.

It was quite heavy to play a straight 90 minutes after two weeks without any training but that is what I needed to get my legs going again.”

Sunderland will kick-off the new Premier League season with an away trip to the Etihad Stadium to take on Manchester City, and they are available at 13.00 to win the match, while the Citizens are on offer at 1.20 and the draw is priced at 6.00.