Jermain Defoe says he has held discussions with Sunderland over their vacant managerial role.
The Black Cats are currently without a head coach following the decision to sack Michael Beale in February.
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Mike Dodds has since taken on the role of interim head coach while the club hierarchy searches for a permanent successor.
Earlier this month, Defoe told local reporters of his interest in taking the job at the Stadium of Light, a position he has since doubled down on after saying he had informal discussions about the position.
Speaking to the Sunderland Echo, Defoe said: “I haven’t had any interviews or anything like that.
“And as I said before when we spoke, I obviously talked about the people who want to come with me and even in the background, some players that I know I can attract, some top young players of the country that I can attract to try and bring the club back to the Premier League.
“I had those kinds of discussions. So nothing really changed, but I didn’t have an interview. I went to the Leeds-Sunderland game and just watched the team and stuff like that. So that’s all.”
Defoe then explained how Tom Cleverley’s journey to management at Watford had inspired him: “He was on my journey from player to manager and I see Tom Cleverley getting a job at Watford and someone I played with and a young coach who had a year at Watford and now he is the manager of such a big club.
“So when you see things like this and that, you just think, ‘Okay, I’m still waiting for my opportunity.’ I read lots of comments. I know the fans.
“I think a lot of people look at it and think, ‘Oh, that makes sense because of the relationship.’ But I mean, we’ll see what happens. I’m sure there must be about 10 or 20. managers who would love to have the job at Sunderland, you know what I mean?
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“Then we’ll see.” I haven’t had an interview or anything, but I think they know that obviously I would be interested in taking a job. Why not?”
Defoe is a Premier League legend having played for clubs like West Ham, Tottenham and Portsmouth during his career.
This included two spells with Sunderland in which he scored 37 goals in 100 appearances, including two campaigns in which his goals helped avoid relegation from the Premier League.
His second spell at the club in 2022 saw him help the club to promotion from League One before hanging up his boots.
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