There’s been a lot of debate about how much Ipswich Town actually paid Sunderland for Jack Clarke.
Sunderland sold Jack Clarke to Ipswich Town during this summer’s transfer window.
The winger gets another deserved crack at the Premier League after three impressive years with the Black Cats, with Clarke looking better than ever during the early stages of this season.
Since, Clarke has made his Ipswich Town debut. Town fans on social media seem excited by the early signs of Clarke, whilst Sunderland under Regis Le Bris have quickly moved on.
Romaine Mundle has stepped up to the plate having scored in both games since Clarke’s exit from the Stadium of Light.
Le Bris’ side currently sit in 1st place of the Championship table after a 3-1 win vs Portsmouth last time out.
And on deadline day, Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus put some of the Clarke millions to use, bringing in four new faces.
But it appears as though Sunderland haven’t received as much for Clarke as the fans first thought.
How much did Ipswich Town pay Sunderland for Jack Clarke
Clarke’s price tag was a sticking point throughout the summer, with reports putting as low as £18million, and as high as £25million.
It was thought that Ipswich Town paid £20million for Clarke, and they did. But Sunderland are only set to receive, at first, £13.5million for the 23-year-old.
Journalist Michael Walker has revealed the details of the sale on X, stating that Sunderland received a basic fee of £18million for Clarke, but that Spurs’ 25% sell-on fee takes that figure down to £13.5million basic.
The one thing holding Sunderland and Championship clubs back
Championship clubs, with Sunderland being a key example, are making a nice habit of picking up youngsters from big clubs, for small fees, and making them into top players.
Clarke is a prime example. But as we’ve seen here, the sell-on fee has come back to bite Sunderland, who arguably aren’t getting half of the amount they really should for a player of Clarke’s calibre.
Premier League teams do this to cover themselves, and Championship clubs take the offer so that they can get the players for cheaper.
It’s part of being a Championship club, and for the likes of Sunderland, it’s a case of doing it repeatedly, re-investing the money like they did on deadline day, and maintaining the aim of reaching the Premier League.
Sunderland’s next fixture is against Plymouth Argyle later this month.