Martin O’Neill has turned down the chance to become the new manager of Stoke City after a difficult weekend of negotiations with the Premier League club.

Stoke, who are third from bottom of the table, have worked tirelessly over the last 72 hours to try persuade the 65-year-old to end his four-year reign as the Republic of Ireland manager and appeared to have secured chairman Peter Coates’ first-choice target.

But O’Neill has instead decided to remain in his role with Ireland, despite being flattered by Stoke’s interest. He has also rejected the offer of a substantial pay rise in order to continue in international football and will hope he can now get on with that job free from distractions.

Telegraph Sport understands one of the key reason for O’Neill’s decision was that he did not want to break the verbal agreement he had given the Football Association of Ireland when he was offered a new two-year contract back in October.

Stoke are believed to have been shocked by O’Neill’s rejection and now face a difficult search for a new manager. The Midlands club, who are in an unexpected relegation battle, have already seen another target, former Watford manager Quique Sánchez Flores decide to remain in Spain, despite also approaching him to see if he would like the job last week.