Will Still has made his stance on a move to the Championship clear, with Sunderland interested in snapping him up in the summer.
It was only two months ago that Sunderland head been heavily linked with a move for the Reims manager, having sacked Tony Mowbray at the start of December.
There had been reports that Will Still was trying to push for a move to Sunderland, despite the French outfit challenging for a place in Europe this season.
However, the Black Cats failed to land the 31-year-old due to his hefty compensation fee and left supporters extremely underwhelmed when they welcomed Michael Beale instead.
Bit it hasn’t taken long for the club to turn their attention back to Still following Beale’s exit, with Kristjaan Speakman giving himself until the end of the season to find a permanent successor.
After spending time with Preston North End U14s early in his coaching career, Still has previously spoken about his desire to return to England at some point.
While the manager has claimed nothing ever ‘really happened’ between himself and Sunderland, he has suggested he could still be interested in joining the Black Cats this summer.
Speaking to The Athletic, Still said: “I would work for a Championship team without a problem,” Still says. “What I’ve now understood, I’ve now realised, is how important people are. And how important finding the right place to be is going to be for my career. And people who understand the way I work, because I’m a bit different. I’m a bit odd sometimes.
“But if there’s a Championship club that’s ambitious, that wants to work in the right way and be open and honest about things, and really try and push to get somewhere, then I would love to do that.
“Obviously, the Premier League is the ultimate dream for any manager in the world. I’m not in a rush, either. It’s not that, if I come to England, I have to go to the Premier League, or I have to go to this or that club. If something fits then it fits, and I’d be just as happy doing that.
“I’ve never really had a career plan. I’ve never set a timing on anything. I’ve just waited for opportunities to come up; see how it feels, see what it’s like.”
Why Will Still could reject Sunderland
Bar the fact that Sunderland are mid-table in the Championship, arguably the club’s biggest flaw in capturing Will Still is their transfer policy.
The coach has made his frustrations about Reims’ policy very clear, saying: ““Gutted, yeah, I haven’t hid that.
“The club tried to explain that it was an opportunity and we had to do it. I get it. I get it totally, and I respect it. But I wanted to be really ambitious and challenge myself and the team right to the end. And it’s like, ‘Right, we won’t get the chance to do that’.”
Reims often bring in players on the cheap and then will offload them to bigger clubs for a profit, while Still doesn’t seem to get much say in this side of the transfer business.
It is clear that Sunderland intend on operating like that too, with this summer likely to be the start of a number of key players beginning to leave.
With the Black Cats boss unlikely to have any real control over incomings either, it will be interesting to see whether Still is happy to leave decisions up to Kristjaan Speakman.