Will Still is expected to be announced on Sunday as Southampton’s new manager.
The 32-year-old Englishman revealed last weekend he was leaving French club Lens to return to the UK.
Multiple sources have told BBC Sport that Still is set to be in the stands at St Mary’s for bottom club Southampton’s final Premier League game of the season against Arsenal on Sunday.
He is expected to sign a three-year contract with the Saints, who will return to the Championship next season after their relegation.
Still’s appointment has been complicated by negotiations around making his brothers, Nicolas and Edward, part of his backroom staff and releasing him from his contract at Ligue 1 Lens, which runs until 2027.
However, Saints are confident they have found a breakthrough in talks.
In March, Still’s partner Emma Saunders, a presenter on Sky Sports who previously worked for BBC Sport, said she was recovering from encephalitis, which is an infection of the brain.
“For multiple reasons, the main reason behind my decision is that I need to go back home,” admitted Still.
He would be a permanent replacement at Southampton for Ivan Juric, who left in April after the club were relegated from the Premier League with a record seven games left to play.
Born in Belgium to English parents, Still built his football career at Lierse and Beerschot before moving to France, where he became the youngest coach in Europe’s top five leagues when appointed by Reims, aged 30, in October 2022.
He joined Lens in June, 2024, on a three-year deal and led them to an eighth-placed finish in Ligue 1.
Lens have yet to confirm Still’s departure.
Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl was previously linked with the Saints job, but the compensation package to move to a club within the same division was thought to be too expensive.
