BAYERN MUNICH are ready to offer Rene Maric a senior role within Vincent Kompany’s first-team coaching set-up in order to keep him out of the clutches of Sunderland.

The Black Cats’ search for a new head coach was thrown into turmoil at the end of last week when Will Still held talks with Lens and expressed a desire to join the Ligue 1 side.

The Sunderland hierarchy thought they had agreed a deal for Still to succeed Mike Dodds as the next head coach on Wearside, but despite having held detailed discussions with Black Cats chiefs, the former Reims boss spoke to Lens about their own managerial vacancy.

Still is set to be confirmed as Lens’ new boss this week, with Sunderland now having to turn elsewhere as they look to end a managerial search that has already stretched beyond the 100-day mark.

Maric has been a candidate for the vacant position on Wearside from the moment Michael Beale was dismissed in February, with Sunderland understood to have held initial discussions with the 31-year-old, who is currently employed as the head of Bayern Munich’s Under-19s team.

An Austrian, whose first senior position was in the coaching set-up at RB Salzburg, Maric has also worked at Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach and has experience of English football thanks to a spell on the coaching staff at Leeds United working under Jesse Marsch.

German media reports have suggested he is keen to step into a senior coaching role at first-team level after spending last season working within Bayern Munich’s youth set-up, and his current contract with the Bundesliga club is due to expire at the end of July.

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However, the Bayern hierarchy rate Maric extremely highly and keen to do whatever they can to keep him as part of their backroom set-up.

Kompany was confirmed as Bayern’s new head coach last week and is currently finalising the make-up of the team that will work below him at the Allianz Arena.

Bayern are expected to make a formal approach to Middlesbrough for Aaron Danks, with the current Boro two set to move to Germany to take on a similar role alongside Kompany.

However, there is still scope for further appointments within the first-team group, and Bayern are set to offer Maric a promotion in an attempt to prevent him leaving for Sunderland.

The Black Cats could make a counter-offer of their own, but the appeal of a senior role within Bayern’s first-team set-up would be considerable as the German club look to reclaim the Bundlesiga crown that passed to Bayer Leverkusen last season.

With their head coach situation seemingly as uncertain as ever, Sunderland have also been linked with a possible move for St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson.

Robinson has been in charge of the Scottish Premier League side since 2022, and guided the Buddies to a fifth-place finish in the Scottish top-flight last season.

A former Northern Ireland international, who spent most of his playing career with Bournemouth, Robinson has previously managed in England with Oldham Athletic and Morecambe.

Sunderland have also been linked with Paul Heckingbottom, who was sacked by Sheffield United halfway through last season, and Liam Rosenior, who was dismissed by Hull City at the start of the summer. Heckingbottom was interviewed by Plymouth Argyle last month, but the Pilgrims opted to appoint Wayne Rooney as their new boss instead.