‘Oh, wow’ – Director’s reaction to Sunderland wanting manager, admits there was “some kind of concern”

On Thursday, we finally got the official confirmation that Kim Hellberg would not become the next Sunderland manager as he was presented as the new man in charge of Hammarby IF.

The 35-year-old was without a club after leaving IFK Värnamo, and was linked with the Black Cats, who interviewed him after extensively scouting his work with the Swedish side.

However, Hammarby are the ones who got Hellberg in the end, and their director of football, Mikael Hjelmberg, admitted being slightly concerned when he heard Sunderland were sniffing around someone he considered his ‘dream man’, as relayed by Fotbollskanalen.

Asked if, ‘hand on heart’, he was a ‘bit worried’ when he realised the Championship side were interested in his new manager, he said: “Yes, I felt: ‘Oh, wow’. There was some kind of concern, but I still thought (that it would work out)… because we had such an open and honest dialogue all the way.”

That’s exactly what happened for the Hammarby director, who presented Hellberg on Thursday afternoon to the media after a few weeks of speculation.

For Sunderland, the drama continues, as after deciding to not go after the 35-year-old and Will Still claiming he was never in the running, the Black Cats are now considering Jimmy Thelin, another Swede currently in charge of IF Elsborg.