Sunderland in talks with Reims coach Will Still – sources

Sunderland are in talks with Reims manager Will Still to try to persuade the highly-rated 31-year-old to leave the Ligue 1 club and take charge of the EFL Championship side, sources have told ESPN .

Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has identified Still as his preferred option to replace Tony Mowbray, who left his post at the Stadium of Light earlier this month.

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At 25, Dreyfus is the youngest owner in English football and sources have indicated that the French businessman is keen to appoint a young manager who fits his plan to build a team of emerging talent at Sunderland, which previously had only three outfield players over 23 years old. in the starting lineup in Tuesday's 1-0 home win over Leeds.

Yet, born in Belgium to English parents, he guided Reims to an 11th place finish in Ligue 1 last season after an unbeaten start to 17 matches at the club and the team are eighth in the table.

Sunderland, who face local rivals Newcastle at home in the FA Cup third round on January 6, moved into the Championship playoff places after back-to-back wins over West Brom and Leeds. And sources have said the club are prepared to leave caretaker manager Mike Dodds in charge over the Christmas period in order to take time to hire the right coach.

And although sources say Dreyfus is also an admirer of Nice assistant manager Julien Sable, Still is the first choice to replace Mowbray as coach.