- Sunderland believed they were set to land Will Still as their new manager
- He has now had a change of heart and decided to manager another Ligue 1 side
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The highly-rated Will Still has rejected the opportunity to become Sunderland’s new manager just days after agreeing to take over at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats are looking for a new manager after sacking Michael Beale back in February following just two months in charge of the team. Mike Dodds replaced Beale on an interim basis until the end of the season as Sunderland finished 16th in the Championship.
They set about making a permanent appointment following the conclusion of the season, targeting Still, and believed they had landed their man when the 31-year-old agreed to join the club last Sunday.
Sunderland sent him a contract on Monday and felt everything was in place for Still to sign on the dotted line, but he then received an offer from Ligue 1 outfit Lens.
Lens finished 7th in Ligue 1 in 2023-24, sealing a place in the Conference League, and it is understood that the lure of European football was one of the key reasons for Still turning down Sunderland to take the manager’s position at Lens instead.
Will Still (pictured) had agreed to take charge of Sunderland but has now chosen to stay in France to manage Lens
His decision leaves Sunderland still looking for a new manager after they finished 16th in the Championship
He is expected to be confirmed as Lens’ new manager in the coming days, meaning he will be remaining in France after two years at Reims.
Still has attracted plenty of interest in recent years after revealing that he decided to focus on coaching after playing the video games Football Manager and Championship Manager as a teenager.
Born in Belgium, Still moved to England at the age of 17 to study coaching at Myerscough College in Preston, Lancashire before returning to his homeland for his first management job at Lierse in 2017.
He then had a brief spell at another Belgian club, Beerschot, in 2021, before landing the Reims job the following year.
He led Reims to an 11th-place finish in his first season at the club, and they came ninth this term.
He opted to walk away from the club at the end of the campaign in search of a new challenge, and looked set for a move to England, but will now stay in France to coach Lens.
Meanwhile, Sunderland’s search for their next manager goes on, as they look to bounce back from a disappointing campaign that saw them drop down the table and only finish six points above the relegation zone in English football’s second tier.
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