Beale was dismissed by the Black Cats following a 2-1 defeat to Birmingham and only winning four of his 12 games in charge including a 3-0 defeat to Newcastle in the FA Cup.

The 43-year-old has been out of work since leaving Club Brugge last season, where he won just two of his 12 games in charge. The former England international has been linked to a series of jobs in England and Scotland, he recently turned down the opportunity to join Aberdeen.

Parker is priced at 7/4 by some bookmakers, ahead of the likes of Frank Lampard (2/1), Will Still (3/1) and Paul Heckingbottom (7/2).

Should Parker take up the role as Black Cats boss, it would most likely be at the end of the season as Mike Dodds is expected to remain as caretaker manager until then.

The former Newcastle captain also had managerial spells at Fulham and Bournemouth, achieving promotion to the Premier League with both.