Kevin Sorrell has confirmed he will be staying with the Men in Black for another season – despite rumours he was set to be axed in the summer.

The Sarries stalwart was believed to be one of a group of players told they could leave the club at the end of the season, but Sorrell has revealed he will see out his contract until 2010 at Vicarage Road.

The centre is currently sidelined until September after reconstructive knee surgery, but the news he is staying will be a welcome boost to the supporters.

It is understood the 32-year-old was told by new coach Brendan Venter he could leave after 14 years at the Guinness Premiership side. But the dedicated Saracen has decided to remain at the club and fight for a first-team place next year.

His commitment to Sarries comes as the club prepare to announce ten new signings, which will include English, Italian and South African players, next week.

Sorrell said: "I'm staying, I'm going to see out the rest of my contract here. I was contracted to 2010 anyway so I'm really pleased that's the case and looking forward to next season.

"There was a lot of confusion at the beginning. A lot of that was down to some rumours flying around and chinese whispers. Things got interpreted a little differently than they were. I'm sure over a period of time everything will become a lot clearer and you will see everything get resolved shortly.

"It's been an interesting 14 years so far. There have been a few highs and a few lows so hopefully we can kick on. There have been some good foundations made over the last couple of years with what we've been doing so hopefully we can find a new opportunity and move on from there."

The Sarries fans' favourite understands the need for the club to make changes over the summer and accepts they cannot keep losing money. But he is confident that they are in safe hands if they keep their base of talented young English players such as Noah Cato, Andy Saull and Alex Goode.

Sorrell added: "You can't carry on losing £2m a year and expecting Nigel [Wray] or the investors to dip their hands in their pockets and write that off because it just doesn’t make business sense.

"As a club you want to be performing on the pitch, but not at the expense of one individual off the pitch, so things had to change to make the club financially viable and move them forward.

"The important thing is those foreign guys who have come in have always bought in to what the club has been about and the direction that it's going in, so I'm sure that will be no different with the new crop of players that are coming in.

"Those guys have come into the team and grown game on game. Now they're key contributors to how we're playing and you're seeing them involved in game-breaking moments.

"That core of young English players is crucial to the club moving forward. We're looking to produce from within and they're three examples of what we've done recently."