Sunderland confirm Allardyce in England talks

Published 13/07/2016 at 09:29 GMT

Sunderland have confirmed in a statement that they have given permission for Sam Allardyce to talk to the FA about the England job.

Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce

Image credit: Reuters

The 61-year-old manager left Sunderland's pre-season training camp in Austria and flew back to the UK earlier this week.

Reports on Wednesday morning claimed that Allardyce had been spotted at the house of FA chief David Gill for an interiew, and the Black Cats have now officially confirmed that the former Bolton and West Ham boss is in discussions about taking over England.

"The Football Association contacted Sunderland AFC to seek permission to speak with our manager as part of what was supposed to be a confidential discussion process with potential candidates for the position of England manager. At Sam Allardyce’s request, we agreed to this," read the statement.

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" Sam is very much key to our plans. After what was an extremely challenging season, we are keen to see a period of stability, both on and off the field, and we want him to remain as manager of our football club.

"The ongoing speculation over Sam’s position is extremely damaging to Sunderland AFC, particularly at this crucial time of the season and we urge the FA to respect the disruption that this process is causing and bring about a swift resolution to the matter."