ROBBIE STOCKDALE has been told he will definitely be leading training when Sunderland’s players return to pre-season training on Thursday, with the takeover negotiations continuing to drag on.

The Black Cats’ first team coach has put a programme in place for the managerless squad to work to while the wait to hear who will be David Moyes’ successor goes on.

Former USA coach Jurgen Klinsmann has distanced himself from the job after being regularly told he was being considered for the post by the German consortium keen to buy-out Ellis Short.

And his comments were followed by a further explanation from Derek McInnes, who was chief executive Martin Bain’s preferred choice, as to why he decided to knock back Sunderland’s advances ten days ago.

Since Sunderland’s focus has centred on Short’s attempts to sell up and, despite an agreement in principal on how much it would cost to purchase, there has still been no news – and sources close to the club suggest nothing is imminent either.

A couple of weeks ago Short and Bain are understood to have set a deadline of the end of June for a takeover to be in place; they have since also stated there will come a time they have to move on and focus on taking the club into next season themselves.

Short still hopes the takeover will take place, although Stockdale already knows he will be leading the training when the players return to the Academy of Light on Thursday.

Preston manager Simon Grayson is still a realistic contender for the role, but there is a reluctance to appoint anyone or make a formal approach until the ownership of the club is clearer.

The last time Sunderland did that they were granted permission from Aberdeen to speak to McInnes and a compensation package was in place, only for him the reject the chance to succeed Moyes anyway.

And McInnes said: "I thought long and hard about it. There's been other opportunities in my time here when I've been asked if there was any interest and I've quickly moved away from it.

"Sunderland was a club I was keen to speak to and once permission was granted it was something I wanted to follow up, just to make a more balanced call on it.

"I think naturally there's a lot to be enticed by the opportunity, so many positives with it, it's a fantastic club, but having taken everything into consideration and taking my time with the whole process, I decided to stay.

"I've always said it would be a huge wrench to leave here, I love my job here. I've had a lot of good times so I thought long and hard and the decision was to stay at the club. I'm delighted we're moving on and I can put that to bed.”

Klinsmann has never been on Bain’s radar, but he has been mentioned as a contender for the job along with Jens Keller if the German consortium is successful in their takeover bid.

But Klinsmann, out of work since being sacked by the United States in November, has dismissed the claims on social media after attending a concert in Los Angeles.

In a post on his Facebook account, Klinsmann wrote: "Had a blast last night at STYX concert at the beautiful Greek Theatre in L.A. What a fantastic venue! On another front: no truth on rumours coaching Sunderland FC in the near future."

Sunderland are still actively looking to strike deals for players who they have told they can move on, but deals are proving a problem because of the wages players earn.

Fabio Borini is close to moving to Lazio, initially on loan at a cost of £880,000 with a view to a permanent arrangement that would cost a further £5m.

His wage demands of around £35,000-a-week, though, are proving a problem, which has also prevented Celtic from striking a deal too.