The Will Still to Sunderland rollercoaster continues its merry way on Wednesday, as Foot Mercato bring the latest information on the situation.
For those who might have missed the earlier articles on the matter, there have been reports that the 31-year-old has held talks with the Black Cats about their vacant managerial role, but Stade de Reims are not going to make life easy for the Championship side.
There has been talk of compensation being needed to prise the Ligue 1 manager away from his club, making life for Still, and in turn Sunderland, difficult.
Foot Mercato bring a long article on the matter, wondering what on earth the manager is playing at, seeing as he is ‘constantly telling his club’ that he ‘does not want to leave’, he has also ‘offered his services’ to the Black Cats.
The problem is that he has ‘big ambitions’ and ‘already sees himself’ in the Premier League, which is why he ‘mandated his agent’, Alex Hayes, to ‘test the waters’ with Sunderland.
That’s where he ‘sold himself’ to Sunderland, comparing his trajectory to that of Vincent Kompany’s as a main argument.
Knowing his squad will be depleted in January with a lot of his players heading off to the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup, he sees the Championship side as an ‘ideal exit door’.
Despite this, he isn’t guaranteed to get the job, because he is ‘absolutely not the favourite’, as Mike Dodds is currently doing rather well, and there’s a chance those in charge of the Black Cats could keep him on for now.
Secondly, Reims have ‘absolutely not planned to replace their manager midway through the season’ and have told ‘whoever wants to hear it’ that he cannot decide his future.
All this has had a ‘chilling effect’ on Sunderland, who want someone on a free and have no desire to ‘spend a single euro’ on their future manager.
In fact, the Championship side had not even thought of him before he ‘added himself to the shortlist’.
Add on top of that the fact he has recently told those around him that he is ‘attached to Stade de Reims and doesn’t have the intention of leaving’, and it’s clear some games are being played.
Foot Mercato finish by saying that while those in charge at Reims have ‘little taste’ for what is going on, this ‘astonishing double-dealing’ could help Still out, who could use the whole thing to ‘obtain reinforcements this winter’ when half his squad fly off on international duty.
