“In light of Adam Johnson’s guilty pleas, the club has today terminated his contract with immediate effect,” Sunderland said in a statement. “The club will make no further comment.”

Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child, but denied two other charges, when he appeared at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday, UK time.

The 28-year-old winger, who has played 12 times for England, also admitted one count of grooming a girl under the age of 16, a court official said.

Sportswear firm Adidas said in a statement that it had cancelled its boot contract with the midfielder.

Johnson, who began his career at Middlesbrough and also played for Manchester City, joined Sunderland for 10 million pounds ($14.46 million) in 2012 on a four-year contract.

He has been a regular for the north-east side this season and scored in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool last week.

When asked about the winger’s future at a news conference earlier on Thursday, manager Sam Allardyce said: “He’ll not be available for this weekend. We will see how it goes after that.”

-Reuters