Michael O'Neill holds talks about becoming Scotland manager for the first time with £500,000-a-year offer on the table from the SFA

• Michael O'Neill held talks with Scotland for first time on Thursday 
• His future as manager of Northern Ireland hangs in the balance 
• The Scottish and Irish FA have agreed a compensation figure of £500,000

Michael O'Neill held talks with Scotland for the first time on Thursday as his future as manager of Northern Ireland hangs in the balance.

The Scottish and Irish FA have agreed a compensation figure of £500,000 for O'Neill, who is being offered a four-year contract by Scotland worth £500,000-a-year plus bonuses to succeed Gordon Strachan - which would make him the best paid national boss in the country's history.

The 48-year-old coach, who lives in Edinburgh, has asked for time to consider his options following 'productive' talks. He met SFA chief executive Stewart Regan and president Alan McRae on Thursday and the two sides are expected to speak again on Friday.

The preferred candidate to succeed Gordon Strachan, 48-year-old O'Neill is a man in demand. 

The IFA have countered with the offer of a six-year contract worth £700,000-a-year in a bid to keep the man who led Northern Ireland to Euro 2016 and a place in the World Cup playoffs.

In charge of his homeland since December 2011, the Irish FA expect the former Hibs and Dundee United winger to accept their offer. 

They have been encouraged by the fact that travel plans are in place for O'Neill to represent his country at the UEFA Nations League draw in Lausanne next week.

He has also been involved in arranging friendlies against South Korea, Panama and Costa Rica in the coming months. 

However, having agreed to meet the £500,000 exit clause in his current deal, the SFA have also offered a lucrative bonus for leading the national team to their first major finals since 1998. With Hampden hosting three Euro 2020 games, the hope is that O'Neill will find the prospect of a new challenge more appealing than breathing fresh life into an ageing Northern Ireland squad.

SFA sources described the discussions as productive, with O'Neill impressing Hampden chiefs by grilling them at length on future plans for the national team.

Both parties will now go away to reflect on the next move with no timeline in place for a decision. 

Meanwhile, Senegal boss Aliou Cisse has revealed his World Cup-bound side are set to face Scotland in a friendly at a yet unnamed London venue in March - because the African nation can't find anyone else to play them.

The managerless Scots are hoping to arrange friendlies for March and June before they start their Nations League qualifiers in September.

Now it looks like they could be taking on Liverpool's Sadio Mane and Co because Senegal have run out of suitable opponents for a warm-up match before heading for Russia in the summer.

Ex-Portsmouth star Cisse said: 'People think that because we qualified for the World Cup everyone wants to play against Senegal, but that's not the case at all.

'I would have liked to play against Brazil, Argentina, France, Germany, but these teams have already arranged their World Cup preparations.

'We are in the process of arranging two games in London, the second one is against Scotland and an opponent is still to be confirmed for the first match.

'We would rather have played countries who are similar to Poland, Colombia and Japan, who we will play in Russia, but we have to be satisfied with whoever is on the market and available for games.'