Jack Clarke kickstarted the new campaign with his signature goal for Sunderland.
Many Sunderland fans were expecting the winger to have left Wearside by now, but the club are still waiting on bids for his signature.
Clarke is continuing to play his part in the Black Cats’ promotion hopes though, getting off the mark as he doubled their lead against Cardiff City yesterday.
The 23-year-old celebrated like a player happy at Sunderland, while the supporters serenaded him with ‘Clarke will tear you apart again’.
There is still three weeks to go until the transfer window closes though, and there is a real possibility that clubs will begin to reconsider bidding for him as they run out of options elsewhere this month.
Le Bris tells Clarke to ‘stay with us’
Regis Le Bris has made it clear he wants to keep hold of Clarke though and has urged him to ‘stay’ at the Stadium of Light.
Speaking to The Northern Echo, the Frenchman said: ““I think his position with us is perfect.
“Let’s not change anything. Stay with us, keep growing, because we need this kind of player. The rest, I don’t know, but he’s an important player for us, for sure.”
Sunderland are expected to demand around £25 million for Clarke, but the closer deadline day is, the less likely they are to be willing to part ways.
Sunderland need to reject all offers for their star man
The task of replacing the attacker is already difficult enough, but it will be near enough impossible if the club are left with only a matter of days to do so.
While his valuation will drop dramatically next summer, the Wearside outfit need to take that risk and try to keep hold of him this month.
Clarke could well be the difference between a mid-table finish and reaching the play-offs, so not cashing in this summer could be worth it.
It doesn’t appear that the former Tottenham man is pushing for a move, and if he would be happy to stay then it seems like the sensible option to keep him for another season.
From his point of view, if he wins promotion with Sunderland and his price tag decreases because of his contract length, then he will have even more options in the top flight this time next year.
The club need to make a firm decision on how they are going to deal with his situation though, because fans won’t be happy if he leaves on deadline day.
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