Sunderland winger Adam Johnson is relieved that Connor Wickham has signed a new contract.
Wickham signed a new, four-and-a-half-year contract on Tuesday, after months of negotiations.
Johnson told The Journal: "Yeah, obviously like the manager said, you're keeping young, English players at the club and that's what you want.
"I mean, what he did for us at the back end of last season and up until now, it would have been a disaster to lose him. To let someone go with his potential, and how young he is.
"I'm sure there were a lot of teams wanting to take him, especially on a free. But I think it was only going to be a matter of time, he took his time and did what was right for him.
"The club paid a good fee for him as well, so to lose him for free and find more money to replace him is difficult, especially young players who hopefully or probably are going to go on and play for the national team one day."
