JACK ROSS will be confirmed as Sunderland’s new manager within the next 24 hours after turning down the chance to move to Ipswich Town in order to take over at the Stadium of Light.

The St Mirren boss will sign a two-year contract on Wearside, with the option of a further 12-month extension, and is set to more than quadruple his wages by joining the Black Cats.

He also talked terms with Ipswich officials earlier this week, but the Portman Road club were reluctant to make a final decision over his candidature as they are keen to speak to Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst once he has presided over his current employers’ League One play-off final against Rotherham United on Sunday.

That created a window of opportunity for Sunderland to make their own move, and new Black Cats owner Stewart Donald has acted decisively to lure Ross to the North-East.

Ross, who is due to return from a family holiday in Greece before the weekend, is keen to take on the challenge of rebuilding Sunderland in the wake of last season’s relegation to League One, and has been promised a budget way in excess of anything he has been used to working with at St Mirren.

St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott is understood to be unhappy at Sunderland’s pursuit of Ross, and having issued a statement accusing the Black Cats of “skulduggery” yesterday lunchtime, it had looked as though the two clubs were on a collision course.

However, with Sunderland having agreed to pay around £50,000 in compensation, the St Mirren board relented and gave Donald formal permission to speak to Ross yesterday afternoon.

The St Mirren statement said: “St Mirren Football Club can confirm we received an approach from Sunderland this afternoon for permission to speak to our manager Jack Ross.

“After agreeing to our terms we have reluctantly given them permission to speak to Jack about their vacant manager’s position.”

Donald considered a number of potential candidates as he sought to appoint a successor to Chris Coleman, but Ross’ name was always close to the top of his wanted list.

Michael Appleton and Kevin Phillips were also considered, along with Coleman, and Chris Wilder might well have been a leading candidate had he not signed a new contract at Sheffield United.

However, Donald is delighted to have landed Ross, who was recently crowned the Manager of the Year in Scotland after leading St Mirren to the Championship title.

“I said in the press conference we would hopefully have our man by the weekend,” tweeted Donald last night. “The update is we have agreed terms and it is with the legals now. By close of play tomorrow I would hope to make an announcement. All on course.”

A former defender who began his playing career with Scottish non-league side Camelon Juniors, Ross spent a season with Hartlepool United that saw him help Pools reach the League One play-offs.

Playing under Neale Cooper, he performed solidly at right-back, but his stay ended abruptly after he admitted he was suffering from homesickness.

“I really enjoyed the football,” he said of his time at Victoria Park in an interview with The Herald. “I played 30 games, we got to the play-off final and I honestly did well on the park. But I made mistakes.

“I had three months to find accommodation and went on holiday, which meant I didn’t spend enough time looking for somewhere to live. Heather (his wife) and I ended up in a place which didn’t suit us.

“She was in Glasgow, I was down there, we were due to get married, and I couldn’t adjust to the travelling. I learned a lot from it, don’t get me wrong.”

He returned to Scotland to play for Falkirk, St Mirren, Hamilton and Dunfermline, and began his coaching career as the assistant manager at Dumbarton.

He spent time on the coaching staff at Hearts, and was handed his first managerial post when he took over at Alloa Athletic in 2015.

He led Alloa to a club-record ten-game winning streak, and was offered the manager’s job at St Mirren in October 2016. He inherited a side rooted to the foot of the Championship table, but guided the Buddies to safety in his first season in charge before winning promotion to the Scottish Premier League last term.

He has come to be regarded as one of the most progressive and innovative managers in the Scottish game, as evidenced by the Scottish PFA’s decision to name him as their Manager of the Year ahead of the likes of Brendan Rodgers, Neil Lennon and Steve Clarke.

As well as officially confirming Ross as Sunderland’s new manager, Donald intends to spend the next few days touting for potential investment into the Black Cats.

He will travel to Monaco at the weekend, and is due to hold discussions with a business associate who has expressed a possible interest in putting money into the club.

“I’ve told him about the deal,” said Donald. “He’s good in football, and good in business, but it will be a minority stake.”

Last year, Donald met with Uruguayan businessman, Juan Sartori, in his role as a member of Oxford United’s Supporters’ Trust to discuss a possible takeover at the Kassam Stadium. Sartori is a close associate of Russian billionaire, Dmitry Rybolovlev, who is president of Monaco and lives in the principality.