The young England midfielder has been linked with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea in recent months.
“When Jordan was being linked with a few clubs, his father rang me and told me: ‘This is nothing to do with us, Jordan just wants to play for Sunderland’ and I had to tell him, of all the players at this club, Jordan really is the last one I am worried about,” said Quinn.
“I know Jordan just wants to play for Sunderland Football Club and he loves doing so.
“It’s not like we have a boy who was, say, a Manchester United supporter all his life and wants to play there one day.
“For me the big ambition would be to see Jordan leading us into a big European match, whenever that is, I don’t know. That would be the ultimate aim. But circumstances sometimes dictate that you have to do things another way and I have to be totally open and honest with people here and say that.
“If a ridiculous offer does come in for Jordan, or any of our players, I have to weigh up losing the player against the money we would get, and how we can spend it. It is a tough one.
“I am always mindful of the fact Bob Murray was offered £16m for Kevin Phillips – we have the letters – and he held on to him, were relegated and sold him 15 months later for £1.5m. That £16m would have meant the club stayed in the Premier League that year.
“But it’s a tough call and we have to be strong. I don’t want Jordan to go, but I am giving an example of the dilemmas you can face.
“That is why we must be open. The game has changed, it is not like the old days when you could say: ‘This player is not going anywhere!’ There are a lot of factors at play and I am not going to try fool anybody and come out with all this talk that Jordan will stay here for ever.
“It is impossible to say that.”
