Sunderland face a major issue in their pursuit of Will Still.
According to talkSPORT, the Reims head coach is on the Black Cats’ shortlist but could be too costly for the club.
Sunderland are on the hunt for a new manager after they sacked Tony Mowbray earlier this week.
The Wearside outfit were heading into a busy Christmas period with only two wins in nine games, so have decided to take the risk of bringing in a fresh face to replace Mowbray in the dugout.
It has been very clear that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman would like to bring in a young, foreign manager, having already targeted Francesco Farioli back in April.
So it comes as no surprise that they are now looking at Will Still, who is one of the most exciting young coaches in Europe.
The 31-year-old was born in Belgium to English parents, went to a French language school and also learned Dutch by playing for Flemish football clubs.
Still began his coaching career as the U14 manager of Preston North End, before getting his first senior management gig with Lierse at only 24 years old.
Following a stint with Beerschot, Still took over at Reims last year and became the youngest manager in Europe’s top five leagues. The ‘elite’ coach guided his team on a 17-match unbeaten run before finishing eleventh in Ligue 1, while his team now sit in fifth place – three points from a place in the Champions League qualifiers.
Sunderland have now expressed their interest in bringing Still back to England, while they are also said to be keen on Nice assistant manager Julien Sable.
While Sunderland are likely to push on with their managerial search as they look to tie down a new arrival very soon, they could already face a stumbling block in their hopes of appointing Still.
TalkSPORT have claimed that one issue could be the amount of compensation that the Black Cats would have to pay to release him from his contract with Reims.
Can Sunderland actually land Will Still?
It’s unclear how much Sunderland would actually have to pay to Reims, but surely they already knew this before they sacked Tony Mowbray.
If Will Still is their first choice, then I would only assume that the club had done their research and were prepared to put the money in to bring him to Wearside.
I would really hope that this wouldn’t be a major stumbling block as it would show real ambition if we did go for it. Especially since the Daily Mail have previously reported that Will Still is only earning around £16,000-per-week in France – that’s not much more than what we are paying Bradley Dack.
Still has also previously admitted that he would be willing to join the Championship, so if he was up for it, it would be such a big opportunity to pass up.
Given Francesco Farioli’s success at Nice since we were linked with him, I do have faith in the club to get this one right. But hopefully it happens sooner rather than later.