Mancini was quoted this afternoon as saying he had been offered the chance to take over at the Stadium of Light, and hinted he would relish the opportunity to return to football after a 12-month absence.

But his agent, Giorgio De Giorgis, told PA Sport the Wearsiders had not been in touch.

He said: "Mancini is aware of those reports. But we have not received an offer, nor have we been in touch with anyone from Sunderland."

Mancini has been out of work since leaving Inter Milan last summer shortly after leading them to a third successive Serie A title.

De Giorgis confirmed there was interest in his client from England but that no formal offer had yet been put to the 44-year-old.

"There has been interest from English teams but Sunderland is not one of them," he said. "However, no official offers have been made."

Mancini was earlier quoted as telling Sky Italia: "I am honoured to have had an offer from Sunderland Football Club. It is a fantastic opportunity.

"It will be truly wonderful to lead such a prestigious and historic club in England after a year of sitting on the sidelines.

"I feel I am ready to start again with immense enthusiasm."

Mancini remains an outsider, with Wigan boss Steve Bruce emerging as the firm favourite for the post soon after Ricky Sbragia's resignation seven days ago.

Wigan have confirmed they will not stand in the way of Bruce providing Sunderland pay £3million in compensation.

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has already given Bruce permission to talk to Sunderland, and said this morning that he expected a decision to be made by the end of today.

Compensation would not be a factor if Sunderland were to appoint Mancini.

Bruce joined Wigan from Birmingham in November 2007, and has been a success at the JJB Stadium.

Whelan told Sportsweek on Radio Five Live: "I paid Birmingham a compensation fee and I think it is only fair they buy his contract out.

"I paid Birmingham £3million and I am asking for the same amount back.

"There are a lot of managers on the market at the moment you can get for nothing. It depends whether Sunderland feel they want to pay £3million. If they want real, real quality managers Steve is up there.

"I said to Steve and to Niall [Quinn, the Sunderland chairman] that if you are going to do a deal, do it quickly. Niall spoke to me and said, 'I understand we can't mess about on this and by Sunday evening we will have a decision for you.'"

Mancini has only limited experience of English football, having had a brief playing stint with Leicester in 2001 before going into full-time coaching.

Before joining Leicester he had a spell as player/assistant manager with Lazio, under Sven-Goran Eriksson, and later had spells as manager of Fiorentina and Lazio prior to joining Inter in 2004.