Sunderland have been handed a major boost in their pursuit of a new manager.
Sunderland have so far struggled in their bid to find a permanent successor to Michael Beale – over three months on from his sacking.
The Black Cats had appointed Mike Dodds as interim coach until the end of the season, but the replacement is yet to arrive.
The club have so far been linked with the likes of Rene Maric, Danny Rohl and Bo Svensson, however all three look set to either take up a new position elsewhere or have signed a new contract.
Will Still has been of interest to Sunderland since before Christmas, with his surprising exit from Reims this month suggesting they could finally land their main target.
The 31-year-old still hasn’t joined Sunderland though, and it has since been reported that he held talks over the Norwich City vacancy.
With the likes of Norwich, Burnley and Hull looking for managers this summer, the Black Cats needed to snap Still up quickly.
It had appeared they weren’t quick enough though, with recent reports claiming that the club were now ‘increasingly unlikely’ to get their man.
Norwich City turn attention away from Will Still
There has been no update since, however Norwich’s recent activity could be a boost for Sunderland.
According to journalist John Percy, the Canaries are now set to appoint FC Nordsjaelland manager Johannes Hoff Thorup.
Percy wrote on X: “Norwich set to complete the appointment of FC Nordsjælland manager Johannes Hoff Thorup this week. Thorup expected to finalise contract in the next 48 hours, with Norwich also paying compensation. Has always been the #1 choice for sporting director Ben Knapper.”
Does this mean Sunderland are back on track?
With the latest update on Still coming just days after he had held talks with Norwich, it had seemed like they were the club that Sunderland were set to lose to.
However, the impending arrival of Thorup could give the Black Cats a boost in their bid to lure Still in.
There are still plenty of other clubs that could be circling the former Reims coach, while there may still be many issues going on behind the scenes that we just aren’t aware of.
This could be the last chance we get to bring Still in though, and if we mess this up now, who knows what the next couple of months could look like.
We are approaching 100 days without a permanent manager though, and the board seems to be acting like it is a summer for relaxing.