Stoke City have been informed they must wait until the summer if they want Slaven Bilic as manager.

The Sun says Stoke's representatives have wasted no time contacting the Croatian coach following the sacking of Mark Hughes on Saturday night.

The club is trying to persuade Bilic to take over their relegation dogfight with claims he can lead them into the big time once this troubled season is over.

But former West Ham boss Bilic, 49, is currently enjoying downtime after being axed by West Ham in November after just over two years in charge.

He is keen on a return to management and in the Premier League but Stoke would have to appoint an interim manager until the end of this campaign if they want to land their number one candidate.