DANISH coach Bo Svensson is emerging as a shock candidate for the Sunderland vacancy.
Svensson, 44, is available after leaving German side Mainz and has been shortlisted by the Black Cats as they look for a new boss.
Sunderland looked at Paul Heckingbottom after his work taking Sheffield United to the top flight.
Will Still is also available after leaving Reims.
However, Svensson may appeal more and could be tempted to go to the Championship if they can match his ambitions.
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The Danish tactician took over at Mainz in 2021 from Austrian outfit Liefering and spent two years in the dugout.
The former defender has a lot of history with the German club as he also spent seven years with the team during his playing career.
The Dane left the Bundesliga outfit with a record of 39 wins and the same amount of losses in 104 matches across all competitions.
Svensson is one of many ambitious and talented young managers to have sat on the Mainz bench.
That includes the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Kasper Hjulmand, Martin Schmidt and Sandro Schwarz.
Klopp and Tuchel pose as the brightest graduates of the famous Mainz coaching cradle.
Klopp went on to win two Bundesliga titles with Borussia Dortmund and made it to the 2013 Champions League final.
That led to a stunning nine-year stint with Liverpool where he won every available major honour, including the 2020 Premier League title and the 2019 Champions League trophy.
Tuchel also enjoyed an impressive two-year stint with Dortmund before joining Paris Saint-Germain where he won two Ligue 1 titles and made it to the 2020 Champions League final.
The German tactician took over at Chelsea a year later and won the Champions League title in his maiden season in charge.
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After being controversially sacked by the Blues, Tuchel took over at Bayern Munich where he won the Bundesliga last year but failed to repeat the feat this season.
He will be a free agent in the summer with Bayern having already announced his departure, and Man Utd are said to be among the clubs interested.