Former Sunderland and Norwich City boss Alex Neil reportedly held talks with Birmingham about the manager’s job at St Andrew’s.

Birmingham have appointed former Tottenham coach Chris Davies as their new manager after reportedly holding talks with Alex Neil.

Davies has signed a four-year contract at St Andrew’s, where he’ll replace Tony Mowbray, after the Blues agreed a compensation fee with Tottenham.

Former Sunderland boss Neil was said to be keen on the job after holding initial talks with Birmingham. The 42-year-old has been out of work since leaving Stoke in December and previously won promotion from League One with Sunderland, after guiding Norwich to the Premier League in 2015.

Birmingham Live also reported former Hull boss Liam Rosenior was one of the managers Birmingham contacted about the role. The 39-year-old recently guided Hull to a seventh-place finish in the Championship, yet was reportedly taking time to consider his options.

Birmingham are preparing to try and win an immediate promotion back to the Championship following their relegation to League One. It was announced last month that Mowbray had stepped down as the Blues’ manager after temporarily stepping away from his role in February, taking a formal medical leave of absence. It was then confirmed the 60-year-old would stand down as Birmingham boss as he focuses on making a full recovery following surgery.

During Mowbray’s absence, Gary Rowett took charge of Birmingham’s last eight league games as interim manager - following a six-game spell where Mowbray’s assistant Mark Venus led the team.