Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has suggested that he will remain a Black Cats player next season, despite speculation over his future.

The 24-year-old, who has been tipped to leave the Stadium of Light this summer, has been heavily linked with a £10m switch to Arsenal.

Despite the rumours, Mignolet has begun looking forward to next season with the hope that manager Paolo Di Canio can help steer them higher than their 17th-place finish.

"As a footballer, you want to do well and want to win games and finish higher in the table than 17th," the Sunderland Echo quotes Mignolet as saying.

"On that point, it was a disappointing season. But then again, there's a reason for that and hopefully next year we can do a lot better.

"Of course, when a new manager comes in, there's new things around and since he's come in, all the games we've played, apart from the Aston Villa game, there were positives. So that's good for the future."

Mignolet signed for Sunderland in 2010.