Fabrizio Romano provided an important update on Sunderland’s managerial search.
Sunderland have been without a manager for more than a week after sacking Tony Mowbray on Monday.
Mike Dodds is the current temporary manager, and he has led the Black Cats to two convincing victory over West Brom and Leeds United, with Sunderland currently back in the top six.
Some believe Dodds may be a good long-term successor to Mowbray, but it appears that Reims boss Will Still is the current front-runner.
Until Romano revealed on X that Sunderland had a new ‘top target’ for the Stadium of Light vacancy.
Fabrizio Romano says Sunderland now have new ‘top target’
Romano, a transfer specialist and insider, claimed earlier today on X that nothing has been agreed between Still and Sunderland.
The Black Cats are still looking for a new head coach, according to Romano, but the club and owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus now have a new ‘priority target’ to replace Mowbray.
However, Romano does not reveal the identity of the target.
🔴⚪️ Understand nothing has been agreed or done between Sunderland and Reims manager Will Still.
Sunderland keep working on new head coach but they’ve another name in the list as top target now. Talks ongoing. pic.twitter.com/PKOWILAV3w
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 14, 2023
Who could this mystery manager be?
It’s definitely unknown, although there are a few names that could be mentioned.
The fact that Romano refers to it as a ‘top target’ shows that it isn’t Dodds, since he would undoubtedly jump at the chance to take up the role without hesitation.
Before Still, Julien Sable appeared to be the front-runner, and he may still be, while other candidates in the running include Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna.
McKenna remains a fantastic possible selection for the Black Cats, but given his continued success at Portman Road, it appears to be an ambitious one; or at the very least, a very expensive one, which does not appear to be within Sunderland’s scope just now.
While the club has money, it does not appear likely that they will spend it on someone like McKenna.
Someone like Still remains a more plausible candidate, and while he may not be the number one candidate right now, he appears to be strongly in the running, thus Still to Sunderland remains a strong possibility.
In any case, according to Romano’s recent report, progress appears to be being made on the matter, and fans will be keen to learn more about who their new head coach might be.
Sunderland return to action this weekend against Bristol City.
The Robins appointed Liam Manning as their new manager last month, but he has only won one of his six games in command, a 2-1 loss against Blackburn Rovers.
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