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Aberdeen have granted Sunderland permission to speak to Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty

Aberdeen and Sunderland have reached an agreement over compensation for manager Derek McInnes.

The English Championship club can now begin negotiations with McInnes over their managerial vacancy.

In a statement, external-link Aberdeen said they had "reluctantly" given Sunderland permission to speak to McInnes and assistant Tony Docherty.

David Moyes left the Stadium of Light following Sunderland's relegation from the Premier League last season.

The Scottish Premiership outfit said: "The club can confirm that early this afternoon Sunderland FC agreed to meet all the contractual obligations for both Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty and they have, reluctantly, been granted permission to speak with both of them about the vacant managerial position at Sunderland.

"Aberdeen FC will be making no further comment at this moment in time."

Earlier, Aberdeen's new major shareholder Dave Cormack said the Dons would "move heaven and earth" to keep McInnes.

"Derek is extremely happy here. It's not just down to money. He's a very astute individual."

Cormack sold his software company for £630m last year and the former Pittodrie chief executive has returned to the club as a non-executive director.

Former chief executive Cormack has returned to Aberdeen

He says McInnes, who guided Aberdeen to second place in the Premiership last term and saw his side beaten by Celtic in the Scottish Cup and League Cup finals, has not indicated any desire to leave.

"Talking to the chairman [Stewart Milne], his family are very happy here," said Cormack. "We are 100% focused on getting ready for next season.

"We're only 10-12 days away from the players coming back. And so it's not a great position to be in."

Cormack says his corporate experience has taught him that retaining employees against their will is unwise and unproductive.

"Keep Sunderland and Derek aside for one minute - I know through bitter experience, trying to keep any employee with my companies, forcing somebody to stay doesn't work for anyone," Cormack added.

"I've had the opportunity to chat with him a couple of weeks ago, and he takes a holistic approach to a football club - he doesn't just think of the football operation and event the sports science, he thinks of the marketing, the communication with supporters, the off-field stuff, and that's a rarity.

"We would do our utmost - if he wanted to consider [Sunderland's approach] - to pull out all the stops to keep him."