Régis Le Bris to Sunderland edges closer after major announcement from Lorient

Régis Le Bris’ move to Sunderland has edged a step closer after a major announcement from Lorient.

The French club have confirmed that Le Bris has now departed the Ligue 1 outfit, clearing the way for his move to Wearside.

Last week, Le Bris emerged as the overwhelming favourite to be named the new head coach after talks with the club over the last three weeks.

Having finally overcome the hurdle of securing a work permit for Le Bris, a significantly bigger hurdle post-brexit than in previous years, the final step was to finalise a fee and a compensation agreement with Lorient.

A statement from the French club read: “FC Lorient and Régis Le Bris have decided to end their collaboration. He is leaving his position with the Merlus today after 72 Ligue 1 Uber Eats matches.

“Arriving at FC Lorient as director of the training center in the summer of 2012, Régis Le Bris won the French championship title with the U17 team in 2015 before taking the reins of the reserve team the following season. During these years, he worked to structure the training center, allowing the emergence of young talents like Mattéo Guendouzi, Illan Meslier, Enzo Le Fée, Julien Ponceau and Junior Kroupi. 

“During his first year at the head of the first team, and accompanied by his technical staff, Régis Le Bris allowed FC Lorient to finish in 10th place  in the ranking, before experiencing a more difficult second season which saw the club go down to League 2 BKT. “FC Lorient would like to thank Régis Le Bris for his investment, his work, his determination and his professionalism over all these years, whether with the professional team or the training center, and wish him the best for the future .”

Lorient figure Loïc Féry added: “I would like to thank Régis for his many years at FC Lorient and regret that the results of recent months have not better reflected his daily investment and professionalism since his arrival at the club. He is a hard worker, and I wish him every success in his future endeavors.

FC Lorient were relegated from Ligue 1 last season, but the 48-year-old came onto Sunderland's radar after an impressive tenth-placed finish the season previous. Le Bris is believed to have been one of five candidates on the club's initial shortlist for the role.

While a deal for Will Still was pursued earlier in the summer, he ultimately opted to move to RC Lens and the Black Cats then turned their attentions to Le Bris. Two weeks to the day since Kyril Louis-Dreyfus told supporters an appointment was 'hopefully imminent', it looks as if the protracted search is finally over.

Fabrizio Romano also reports some significant details on Le Bris’ appointment, with the head coach set to sign a two-year deal with the option of a third. Le Bris is also set to bring in multiple members of staff amid a ‘wider restructure’ of the coaching team. Sunderland have since the start of the of the process been keen to retain the current first-team coaching group but it looks se to grow larger than initially expected.