Potential Regis Le Bris, Sunderland AFC release clause price revealed | OneFootball

The Black Cats are going to have to cough up some change to get their preferred head coach candidate.

The release clause that Sunderland may have to pay to get Regis Le Bris to the Stadium of Light has been revealed.

It's been over four months since the Black Cats took a trip to the midlands to face Birmingham City. The eventually relegated Blues got the best of them that day, with goals from Jordan James and Koji Miyoshi helping the Blues to a 2-1 win.

The significance of that match is that it was the last game that Michael Beale took charge of as Sunderland head coach. In a rather fitting way, he lost to the man that he replaced, Tony Mowbray. Either that or the alleged snubbing of Trai Hume was the final nail in his Wearside coffin. Poetic justice, some may say.

Sunderland have undertaken a grueling, and at times embarrassing, ordeal to replace him, but reports suggest that they are finally closing in on a permanent appointment.

Le Bris, who is the manager of French side Lorient, who were just relegated to Ligue 2, is the man that the Black Cats are now going all out for.

The search for Beale's replacement has taken many twists and turns, with Will Still reportedly agreeing to join the club and then changing his mind when RC Lens came in for him. Former Hull City manager Liam Rosenior most recently pulled himself out of the running for the job too.

Although Le Bris, who was pursued by Leeds United before they settled on Daniel Farke as their next manager, is now the club's main target, a deal for him is not yet signed, sealed or delivered, and there were plenty of barriers that have been in their way, and probably a couple more to come too.

Regis Le Bris release clause

One issue that Sunderland have already bypassed on the Le Bris front is over his work permit. Other clubs have been caught out by managerial targets' failure to obtain a UK permit, and the Black Cats were not going to run that risk.

Le Bris is said to have initially failed to meet the criteria required to get the permit, as per the Northern Echo. They then had to go through an appeals process to check that he actually was able to get one, which he seemingly is.

The two clubs are going to have to reach an agreement on the compensation that is going to be paid to Lorient to get Le Bris out of his current deal with the Ligue 2 side.

An agreement on the figure is believed to be close to happening. Previous reports from Mohamed Toubache-Ter suggested that there is a €5 million release clause in the Frenchman's contract with Lorient.

The Echo added that Sunderland hope to announce Le Bris' appointment in the next few days, although some Black Cats supporters may take that with a pinch of salt given Kyril Louis-Dreyfus' previous claims about the proximity of an agreement with a new head coach.

Sunderland are taking another risk

The strategy of the club is one that accounts for and involves huge risks. Their plan may alter slightly this summer, but Louis-Dreyfus and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman have implemented a youth-first policy, which isn't one that traditionally leads to success.

As the saying goes, you can't win with kids. The pair are doing their best to disprove that, although they didn't help their case last season.

While this decision to get Le Bris, who has been on the club's shortlist since Beale left, is a big risk because they are appointing a manager that has just been relegated, it's also not one that they might have made if things had gone their way.

The approach made to Still shows that the Lorient boss wasn't always their number one option, but, nevertheless, they appear happy with him and what he can bring to the table.

It's certainly a bold strategy, but I guess you could say that they're just following in the footsteps of Bayern Munich, who also appointed a manager who'd recently led the team to the dropzone.

Is it a risk they can afford to take? Well the Sunderland hierarchy probably isn't as well thought of as they used to be, given the events that have occurred over the past 120 days.

But it also could be a risk that they have to take, because what other options do they have?