Alex Neil's departure as Sunderland head coach to take over at Stoke City has been officially confirmed by the club. The Black Cats issued a statement at 5pm saying that Neil had left Wearside and would become the Potters' new boss with immediate effect.
Simultaneously, Stoke confirmed that Neil had been appointed as their new manager on a three-year contract. Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said: "First and foremost, we want to thank Alex for his contribution to Sunderland AFC.
"The impact he made is clear and he played an integral role in our promotion last season. Despite signing revised terms earlier this month and receiving an offer to further improve his contract on Friday, Alex felt this was an opportunity that he wanted to pursue.
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"We are extremely disappointed by his departure, but we ultimately respect his decision and we wish him well. The process to appoint a new head coach is underway and we will provide a further update to our supporters shortly."
The confirmation came 48 hours after ChronicleLive revealed that Neil had decided to leave to take charge at Stoke. Sunderland's statement said that Neil had signed an improved contract earlier this month, but that he expressed a desire to leave on Friday morning.
It went on to say that the club had offered 'significantly enhanced' terms on Friday afternoon, but that those had been turned down. Neil had taken charge of the Black Cats in February, following the sacking of Lee Johnson.
He led the club to a fifth-place finish and then to promotion from League One via the play-offs at Wembley. And under Neil, Sunderland made a strong start to life back in the Championship, collecting eight points from his five games in charge.
Neil was given permission on Friday to speak to Stoke and was not at the Stadium of Light for Saturday's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Norwich City, instead travelling to Ewood Park to watch the Potters' 1-0 win against Blackburn Rovers. Neil's assistant Martin Canning was in charge of the game against Norwich yesterday but, while there was no mention of him in the statements put out by either club, he is also expected to leave the Black Cats for the bet365 Stadium.
Stoke welcomed Neil to their club, with joint chairman John Coates saying: "Alex was our number one choice to become our new manager and I'm delighted we have secured his services so quickly. His managerial pedigree is excellent with three promotions already on his CV and we are looking forward to working closely with him to help him realise the ambitions that he and the club share."
Stoke sacked their previous manager Michael O'Neill on Thursday, with the final straw for the former Northern Ireland boss being last weekend's 1-0 home defeat against Neil's
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