Wales rebuff Hull City over Coleman bid

The Tigers hope to have Steve Bruce’s successor in place by tomorrow at the latest after whittling down an initial five-man shortlist to just two names.

Gianfranco Zola is highly regarded by the City hierarchy but an approach is understood to have been made for Coleman, who led wales to the Euro 2016 semi-finals.

Hull’s squad flew out to Austria this morning for a two-game pre-season tour.

“The Football Association of Wales can confirm that it has received an official approach from Hull City FC for the services of manager Chris Coleman,” said a statement on the official FAW website.

“Following discussions amongst leading figures within the association the approach has been rejected.”

Coleman signed a new two-year contract in May ahead of the European Championships and then oversaw Wales’ best ever performance at a major tournament.

The 46-year-old’s stock is high after Wales’ achievement in France and FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford admitted after Euro 2016 that he “can’t make him (Coleman) do the job.”

“At the end of the day we do have a contract that’s been signed, but like anything, if somebody desperately says ‘Well I’m not going to do the job’, you’re going to have a tough time keeping him,” Ford told BBC Radio 5 live in July.

“There are procedures and there are policies in place with regards to if that does happen, but let’s hope it doesn’t.”

And the FAW stressed on Tuesday that they are determined to keep Coleman, saying: “Everybody at the FAW are fully focused on the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.”