The likelihood of Sunderland selecting a 51-year-old manager appears to be improving.
Since the Championship season ended, Sunderland has been waiting more than a month for a manager to be named.
The Will Still story has been dragging on since before Christmas, and the Black Cats have been closely associated with managers from all around Europe.
Although names like Danny Rohl, Bo Svensson, and Rene Maric have been mentioned, they appear to be gradually removed from consideration.
Pascal Jansen, who has been unemployed since being fired by AZ Alkmaar in January, is the most recent manager to be mooted as taking over on Wearside.
Numerous teams have previously expressed interest in the 51-year-old, including Ajax, Burnley, Everton, and Norwich City.
Despite leaving the Netherlands, Jansen is still unemployed and reportedly of “serious interest” to the Black Cats.
However, it’s reported that Jansen is still attracting interest from other teams, with Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos leading the chase.
Pascal Jansen desires to move to England
But Sunderland’s chances of landing the London-born coach could be strengthened.
As per FCUpdate, Jansen has never concealed his desire to return to England, and if he is hired for the Stadium of Light, it would truly be a “dream come true” for him.
The manager was born in the English capital to a Dutch musician father and an English pop singer mother. He holds dual British and Dutch citizenship.
However, Jansen played just a brief career in the Netherlands before returning to the country to coach at teams like PSV and AZ.
Despite being connected to multiple Premier League and Championship positions, he has not yet been appointed as a manager in England.
There could be a big coup coming for Sunderland.
Even though Jansen’s name has come up somewhat late in the search, Sunderland is quickly running out of options, and he might be one of their top targets.
Arne Slot, Erik ten Hag, and Frank De Boer are just a few of the great coaches he has worked with and learnt from. He also had a very successful run at AZ.
The 51-year-old qualified for every season’s European competition after earning third, fifth, and fourth place finishes for them.
He advanced to the KNVB Cup semifinals and won the Eredivisie play-offs in his first full season with the Dutch team. In the 2022–2023 season, they advanced to the Europa Conference League semifinals until West Ham only managed to eliminate them.
If the report’s assertion that Jansen genuinely wants to work in England is accurate, Sunderland will have little justification for not finalising a deal for the unemployed manager right away.
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