Inside Alex Neil's Sunderland departure as Cats boss leaves for Stoke City ahead of Norwich City clash

The 41-year-old hadn’t officially left after a club statement confirmed he had entered into discussions with Championship rivals Stoke.

Still, as Neil began his journey to Staffordshire to finalise the move, it seemed clear the deal was all but done.

Perhaps we should have seen this coming, with Neil still on a rolling 12-month contract after joining the Black Cats in February and leading the club to promotion from League One.

Sunderland are aiming to build a sustainable model by promoting young talent and signing players with potential, yet it’s clear they don’t have the same resources as some of their second-tier rivals.

Ahead of the Black Cats’ meeting with Stoke last weekend, Neil explained how Sunderland couldn’t compete with the Potters, namechecking Dwight Gayle, when it came to players’ wage demands.

The Scot has also appeared to grow increasingly frustrated at Sunderland’s lack of transfer business over the last few weeks. After saying he wanted ‘four or five’ more players after his team’s season opener against Coventry, no more have arrived.

It’s also clear the Potters, who spent ten years in the Premier League between 2008 and 2018, have been able to offer a more lucrative contract, while Neil will be closer to his family home in the North West.

Whether a move to the bet365 Stadium represents an upgrade in terms of the club’s potential remains to be seen, especially after the Potters’ sticky start to the season which resulted in Michael O’Neill’s sacking.

Even after Neil’s odds to become Stoke’s next manager dropped significantly on Thursday evening, it seemed something of a long shot.

When the Sunderland boss was then late for his regular 9am press conference ahead of Saturday’s match against Norwich, it became increasingly clear all was not well.

The press conference was pushed back to 2pm as speculation grew around Neil’s future. He had prepared the team for the match against the Canaries, yet his future now lies elsewhere.

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A Sunderland statement claimed they were ‘committed to retaining Alex’s services’, yet the Scot felt there were not enough attempts to keep him.

He left the training ground without satisfaction after making his decision.

It’s a decision that will leave Sunderland without a head coach and less than a week to complete their transfer business.