Alex Neil will leave Sunderland to become Stoke City's new manager, ChronicleLive understands. The Black Cats have issued a statement confirming that they are 'contractually obliged' to let the Scot speak to the Potters about their managerial vacancy following a formal approach from their Championship rivals, but going on to say that the club is 'committed to retaining' his services as head coach.
The statement read: 'Sunderland AFC can confirm that Alex Neil has entered into discussions with Stoke City regarding their current managerial vacancy. Following a formal approach by SCFC, the club is contractually obliged to permit the head coach to start a dialogue with the Potters.
'The club is committed to retaining Alex’s services as head coach and will be making no further comment at this moment in time.'
READ MORE: Sunderland cannot afford to lose Alex Neil through complacency
But ChronicleLive understands that a deal has already been agreed between Neil and Stoke, and he has agreed to become their new boss. With speculation over Neil's future building this morning, a scheduled 9am press briefing to preview tomorrow's home game against Norwich City was first delayed and then postponed until 2pm.
That 2pm briefing was then cancelled when the club confirmed that Neil was in talks with Stoke. Neil has since said his goodbyes at the club's Academy of Light training base.
Neil took over at Sunderland in February and signed a 12-month rolling contract, before leading the club to promotion from League One via the via the play-offs last season. In the summer, Sunderland's sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said that all parties concerned were happy with the 12-month rolling deal, and as such a new long-term contract was not on the agenda.
But that meant that, unlike other potential managerial targets for Stoke who were effectively priced out of contention, Neil was relatively cheap to buy out of his deal on Wearside - and the contract gave Sunderland no choice but to allow him to speak to other clubs if they made a formal approach. The Potters sacked previous boss Michael O'Neill yesterday after a poor start to the season, with a home defeat at the hands of Sunderland last weekend proving the final straw for the former Northern Ireland boss.
Stoke have tried to appoint Neil before, with the Potters coming close to landing him in 2019 when he was at his previous club Preston, but on that occasion Preston handed him an improved contract and he stayed at Deepdale.
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