What Will Still has previously said about Sunderland manager links and his plans for next job

Will Still has already stated his desire to return to the UK this summer, with links to the Sunderland job set to intensify after the shock announcement that he would be leaving Stade de Reims with immediate effect on Thursday.

Still, who has managed the Ligue 1 club since October 22, was shortlisted for the job on Wearside following Tony Mowbray's departure last December. Talks with Still's camp did not progress, with potential compensation one major issue. It's not yet clear whether he is again a candidate as the Black Cats prepare to appoint a permanent successor to Michael Beale, but in an interview with The Athletic in February he stated he would be open to joining an 'ambitious' second-tier club.

"It’s just home,” Still said. “I want to come home. I’ve been abroad all my life, and I’ve been working in an environment that isn’t quite mine all my life. And I just want to come home.

“I would work for a Championship team without a problem,” Still says. “What I’ve now understood, I’ve now realised, is how important people are. And how important finding the right place to be is going to be for my career. And people who understand the way I work, because I’m a bit different. I’m a bit odd sometimes. But if there’s a Championship club that’s ambitious, that wants to work in the right way and be open and honest about things, and really try and push to get somewhere, then I would love to do that. Obviously, the Premier League is the ultimate dream for any manager in the world. I’m not in a rush, either. It’s not that, if I come to England, I have to go to the Premier League, or I have to go to this or that club. If something fits then it fits, and I’d be just as happy doing that.

“I’ve never really had a career plan. I’ve never set a timing on anything. I’ve just waited for opportunities to come up; see how it feels, see what it’s like.”

In the same interview Still also opened up on those links with Sunderland, saying that they were genuine but not advanced.

"It was a lot of noise for something that never really happened,” Still says.

“There has been interest, I’m not going to lie about it. I’d rather be open and honest, and I think I was. We’ve had interest. People have wanted to talk to us. This is the reality of the situation. It went from an interest from clubs to, ‘Will Still is being arrogant and wants to leave Reims who’ve given him this amazing opportunity.’ I was like, ‘No I don’t. I’m still just me. Any manager in the world would have listened to the offer. If someone offered you a better job, better life, you’d listen. Any human being would listen.’ But it was just that the wrong story got told. It was ‘Will wants to leave, he’s fed up of Reims, he’s this and that…’ Load of s**t.”