Sunderland have now suffered a devastating blow in pursuit of manager Will Still.
Sunderland have had Will Still on their radar for several months now, first being linked with the 31-year-old after the Black Cats sacked Tony Mowbray at the end of 2023.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus then saw links to Still emerge after Beale was sacked in February, with the links having persisted since then.
Still left Reims at the start of May sparking speculation that he was about to head to Sunderland.
But it now looks like Still will be staying in France with Ligue 1 outfit Lens who were initially linked this week.
Will Still set to become next Lens manager
Journalist Sacha Tavolieri has revealed on X that Still ‘should become the next coach’ of Lens, with his brother Nicholas set to join as an assistant.
Tavolieri adds that Still ‘had made professional choices to offer himself to the English market’, namely Sunderland and Norwich City who recently held talks with Still.
But it’s Lens who appear to have won the race to appoint Still, putting yet another dent in the ongoing Sunderland manager search.
The Black Cats have now been without a manager for more than three months after parting ways with Michael Beale in February.
What next for Sunderland in manager search
The possibility of Still now taking charge looks to be over. Sunderland have waited too long to pull the trigger and have now been dealt what feels like an inevitable outcome.
Lens will land a good, young coach in Still, but there’ll be a portion of Sunderland fans who’ll be relived as hiring Still would always have been something of a gamble.
At the same time, the ongoing search for a new manager is becoming very concerning, and missing out on Still only serves to strengthen the worry among supporters.
Names like Paul Heckingbottom and Rene Maric remain available; Maric has recently seen his links to Sunderland reignited after it looks like he was no longer in contention.