Ex-Portsmouth and West Ham striker confirms informal talks over Sunderland manager vacancy

Former Pompey striker Jermain Defoe has revealed he has held informal talks with Sunderland about the possibility of being named their head coach.

The Stadium of Light side sacked Michael Beale in January after just 13 games in charge. And while Mike Dodds has replaced him in the Black Cats hotseat on an interim basis, the club are expected to make a permanent appointment at the end of the season.

Defoe - who bagged 17 goals in 36 appearances for Pompey - has admitted he is yet to be officially interviewed for the role, with Bayern Munich youth coach Rene Maric the new favourte. But speaking to the Sunderland Echo, he said discussions had taken place, after coming out and admitting he wanted the job.

The 41-year-old said: ‘I've had no interview or anything like that. And like I said before when we spoke, I spoke about obviously the people that want to come with me and even in the background, certain players that I know that I can attract, young top players in the country that I can attract to try and get the club back into the Premier League.

“I've had those sorts of discussions. So nothing's changed really, but I've not had an interview. I went to the Leeds-Sunderland game and just watched the team and stuff like that. So that's it.”

The striker, who left Fratton Park under a cloud after less than a year with the Blues, has been inspired by the rise of Tom Cleverley - who was last week appointed Watford manager and the age of just 34. The former Manchester United midfielder was made a permanent fixture at Vicarage Road following an interim spell in charge after the sacking of Valerien Ismael last month.

Defoe added: ‘And you know what? It makes me want to do it even more because when I look at the news from Tom Cleverley, he was on my player-to-coach course. I see Tom Cleverley getting a Watford job and someone who I played with and a young coach who had one year at Watford and now he's the manager of such a big club.

‘So when you see stuff like this and that, you just think, “Okay then, I'm just still waiting for my opportunity”. I've read loads of comments. I know the fans. I think for a lot of people, they look at it and think: “Oh, it makes sense because of the relationship”. But I mean, we'll see what happens. I'm sure there must be about 10 or 20 managers who would love to have the Sunderland job, do you know what I mean? So it's a massive job.

‘So we'll see. I've not had an interview or anything, but I think they're aware that, obviously, I'd be interested in taking a job. Why not?’

Defoe spent tw0 spells at the Stadium of Light, scoring 37 goals in 100 appearances.