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Crisis club Sunderland are up for sale for £50million.

Manager Chris Coleman admitted on Monday that owner Ellis Short has fallen out of love with football, and appealed for a new tycoon to take charge.

Years of bad decisions and poor form on the pitch has left the Wearsiders facing consecutive relegations.

MirrorSport has been told that at one point, while they were in the Premier League, Sunderland were GIVING AWAY 9,000 tickets per game for free.

Current MD Martin Bain has scrapped that drain on income, but he also inherited several bad deals, a huge wage bill and spent 18 months cleaning it all up ready for a sale.

US-based billionaire Short wants out and has effectively handed over the keys to Bain.

(Image: Sunderland AFC via Getty)

A source said: “The club has very good infrastructure and nothing hiding under the bonnet now. The club needs a buyer.”

That £50m pricetag is less than Arsenal spent on a single player last month — £56m striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Bain became the “frontman” for crowd abuse during the weekend defeat by Brentford but has had to slash Short’s subsidy, which at one point ran at £25m a year, and has little leeway to invest in players.

Sunderland now have a £35m wage bill and have another season with a £35m parachute payment from the Premier League.

One interested German buyer failed to prove they were serious, but the hunt is one for another.

(Image: Getty)

Coleman said: “Ellis wants to sell the club. (The fans) recognise that maybe he doesn’t... his love for the club was maybe yesterday.

“Until we get someone that wants to turn a corner and love it, and care for it, and look after it.... hence the negativity. We know the anger and frustration. We take it on the chin until we get a new owner.

“Martin Bain is very much the man who has been pushed out in front. And he accepted responsibility. He is a big boy and can handle it. People vent their anger somewhere. Martin is the frontman for that.

“But for me, 15 years a manager, I have not worked for a better chief exec.

“We understand people will vent there anger. Our supporters need people here who care about the club as much as them.”

(Image: Reuters)

Sunderland face Bolton on Tuesday night, before a derby against Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Coleman said: “We are hurting and suffering. You either rise to it or duck it. People have billed this week as do or die for us.

“Do other teams have more fight than Sunderland? Over 90 minutes, yes. I can’t get over not competing, not fighting. That keeps me awake at night.

“I understand the fear factor at the Stadium of Light and we are on the back of three or four years of negativity. Who could blame our fans for feeling like they do? You couldn’t.

“You can’t wish it to happen. You have to make it happen. We have been booed off more times than I can remember. What is the worst that can happen to us now? Let’s go for it.”