Jack Clarke’s future is still very much hanging in the balance. This is despite Sunderland’s hierarchy claiming they do not need to sell their best players, including Clarke, who has two years left on his current contract.
Sunderland’s winger has been in high demand, having been one of the Championship’s highest performers last season. Despite their 16th-placed finish, Clarke produced 15 goals and four assists for the Black Cats.
Premier League duo, Ipswich Town and Southampton, have been the most heavily linked clubs in recent weeks. It was revealed by iNews that the Tractor Boys were primed to make an offer of £18 million for the 23-year-old, but that news has since gone quiet. While The Northern Echo claim that Southampton hold a ‘strong’ interest.
As it stands, Clarke is still a Sunderland player and will play some part in the Wearsiders’ campaign. Unless the Black Cats receive a big offer for the winger, then he will likely remain at the Stadium of Light.
It would take a bid of £20/25 million for Sunderland to sell Clarke
Comparing Clarke’s potential departure to that of Jaden Philogene, FLW ‘S Sunderland pundit, Travis Martin, believes it would take bids in excess of £20/25 million for Clarke to be prized away from the Stadium of Light.
Speaking to Football League World, Travis said: “This ownership are shrewd in their business and unless they get the right price for Jack Clarke, which I believe, personally, has got to be £25 million or in excess of that, then they won’t ship him.
“Like we saw for Jaden Philogene at the price of someone who got worse numbers than Jack Clarke in a team that finished above Sunderland and created more chances.
“I think these players have actually got a similar type of ceiling in terms of their ability, so I think Sunderland should really be looking at a similar price to that. Like I say, in excess of £20-25 million really, and if Sunderland don’t get that, then they won’t accept any bid for Jack Clarke if he wants to leave the club or not.
“They showed that with Ross Stewart, a man who is injury-prone. We were able to get £10m for a man who played 3/4 games in the Championship over 6/7 months for Southampton. Within two weeks of playing for Southampton, he was injured again.
“I’m undecided. I’m probably 60/40 at the minute if he stays at the club this window at least.”
Clarke would be a real loss for the Black Cats
Clarke’s influence on Sunderland’s team cannot be underestimated. Without his numbers last season, the club would likely have competed in a relegation dogfight. The 23-year-old scored five times as many goals as the Wearsiders’ front line combined.
Without Clarke, it begs the question of where Sunderland’s goals would come from. The club are yet to bring in a goal-scoring striker this window and therefore will likely be heavily reliant on Clarke again.
Although £20-25 million would represent a significant profit for the Black Cats, Sunderland would almost certainly benefit more from having Clarke in their side.
With under four weeks left of the transfer window, it remains to be seen whether Clarke will be wearing the red and white of Sunderland next season. One thing that is for sure is that the speculation around Clarke will not go away.
Clarke’s departure would seriously hurt the Black Cats and fans will be hoping that he stays.
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