Wigan Athletic manager Steve Bruce was locked in negotiations with Sunderland this morning.
Bruce broke off from a holiday in Portugal to discuss terms with club officials after the Black Cats on Monday agreed to pay compensation to the Latics.
There are not expected to be any stumbling blocks in the personal terms and it seems an appointment is likely within the next 48 hours, although Sunderland insist they have put no timescale on negotiations.
Bruce is likely to ask for the freedom to appoint his own backroom team and he would certainly want current assistant Eric Black - whom he took with him when he left Birmingham for the JJB Stadium - to join him in the north-east.
It is also thought he would take Wigan reserve-team boss Keith Bertschin and goalkeeping coach Nigel Spink to the Stadium of Light, although it is not known whether conditions for the transfer of backroom staff were included in the compensation package agreed between the two clubs.