Sunderland endured another crazy 24 hours in their managerial search on Thursday.
After surpassing the 100-day mark without a manager in place at Sunderland, reports on the matter have really heated up.
Will Still has been the main name in headlines; following his long-term links to Sunderland, it now looks like the 31-year-old is set to take charge of French Ligue 1 club RC Lens.
Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus will have to quickly turn his attention elsewhere with new names now coming onto his radar.
Bayern Munich U19s boss Rene Maric is apparently back in contention whilst Swiss coach Raphael Wicky is a new contender.
He’s out of work after leaving Swiss outfit BSC Young Boys in March, despite leading the team to both the Swiss Cup and the Swiss league title during the 2022/23 season.
And on Thursday, reports emerged claiming that Wicky had agreed a two-year deal to become new head coach of Sunderland.
Fabrizio Romano weighs in on next Sunderland manager
Reports in Italy claimed that Wicky had signed a two-year deal with Sunderland, with the option of an extension.
Soon after, Romano weighed in, playing down said report. He posted on X: “Sunderland will not appoint Raphael Wicky as new manager despite recent reports.
“No contacts, no talks and he’s not on the shortlist for #SAFC job. Club working on different candidates to appoint new head coach.”
Romano remains a trusted name in the industry and so it seems clear that Sunderland have not agreed a deal for Wicky, despite recent claims.
Who will become the next Sunderland manager
With Still now set for Lens, and the likes of Bo Svensson and Danny Rohl not on the move this summer, there appears to be two front-runners for the job; Wicky and Maric.
Both look like exciting potential appointments, though Wicky is certainly the more experienced.
He was a Swiss international during his playing career, racking up 75 caps for his country and having had stints as manager of FC Basel, Chicago Fire, and Young Boys.
Maric is a lot more inexperienced but he may be the more exciting potential appointment; he’s very well regarded in Germany and feels like a very similar potential appointment to Rohl at Wednesday.
He’s following a similar career path and the fact that Bayern Munich are desperate to keep him and promote him tells us all we need to know about his potential.
Time is certainly running out for Sunderland to hire their next manager and to press on with transfer business, with fans certainly anxious about the wait.