Sunderland need to act on Will Still after Norwich City development: View | OneFootball

It feels as though Sunderland's chase for Will Still has dragged on for an entirety, but they will want to secure the Belgium-born soon as there have been new developments involving other clubs.

That is because now managerless Norwich City, following the sacking of David Wagner, are keen on appointing the 31-year-old as their new boss.

Sunderland have chased after Still for what feels like an eternity, having first pursued his services back in December 2023, but will now need to act fast to secure their very wanted man, as interest from the Canaries may prove too tempting.

It will be up to Still to decide upon the more enticing project, and if the decision goes against Sunderland, you have to feel they only have themselves to blame for missing out on such a heavily pursued target.

Will Still to Sunderland latest as Norwich City set their sights on 31-year-old

The saga between Will Still and Sunderland has lasted for six months now, but it has since been reignited when the young coach departed Stade de Reims at the beginning of May.

The Black Cats decided against bringing in Still back in December following the departure of Tony Mowbray, instead opting for Mike Beale.

And when the Beale experiment failed, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus opted not to go for Still again due to his role at Reims - this meant that Mike Dodds once again stepped in and managed on an interim basis.

Now that the season is over, and Dodds has confirmed that he will revert back to being a first-team coach, rumours have been rife about Sunderland appointing Still, and have got even more frequent since it was announced that he would leave Reims with immediate effect earlier this month.

The latest update in regard to a move to Sunderland, however, is that any appointment is now unlikely.

Reported by Michael Graham, it is said that the Wearsiders are now looking at other targets, instead of going ahead with their first-choice target that they have spent months pursuing.

What will come as even more disappointment to Sunderland fans, is that with this news, Still looks set to hold talks with Norwich over taking the managerial reins at Carrow Road.

Norwich City keen on Will Still and could beat Sunderland to appointment

Reported on Thursday by Chris Reeve, it is said that Will Still had held talks with the Norwich hierarchy at their training ground over potentially taking up the manager position ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Norwich are on the lookout for a new boss, as following a crushing defeat to Leeds United in the second leg of the Championship play-off semi-finals, they sacked David Wagner, and will now want to build a strong side to challenge for promotion, starting with a head coach to help kick-start a new project.

Still is not the only that is being mentioned among reports, with Norwich apparently very keen on appointing FC Nordsjaelland boss Johannes Hoff Thorup, with the two parties rumoured to be in "advanced talks".

Should the Canaries make the 35-year-old Dane their first choice, this could give Sunderland a huge boost in any last-ditch pursuit to appoint Still.

Sunderland or Norwich choice now seemingly down to Wil Still

Ultimately, the choice as to where Still goes and manages next season will be down to the 31-year-old himself, and arguably, the two clubs present two very different projects.

At Sunderland, following their very poor finish this season, there will likely be a long-term project to propel themselves back into the fight for promotion to the Premier League, which could take two or three years considering how competitive the Championship has become.

While the Black Cats may have money to put behind Still in any potential transfer business, there is a question mark over their patience given the time-frames of their previous managerial appointments in recent times.

At Norwich, however, Still would be walking into a much more positive environment that would give him even greater resources to help better this season's impressive play-off finish, with potentially an eye toward finishing in the play-offs again next-year, potentially winning them too -or even better - finishing the season in of the Championship's two automatic promotion places.

It can be argued then that Norwich, at least in the short-term, is the much more attractive job, and that if the Canaries' interest in Still is genuine and strong, then a move there would be a no-brainer for both parties.

Which is why, if Sunderland are still seriously wanting the Englishman, who has never managed on native shores before, then they need to kick into action and begin talks once again with Still and finally appoint him as their next manager.