Jack Clarke looks extremely unlikely to stay at Sunderland this summer.
Jack Clarke has been heavily linked with a move away from Wearside since the start of the season, having been the subject of a number of bids from Burnley.
The winger has looked even better this term, notching his 18th goal contribution of the campaign in the weekend’s defeat to Birmingham City.
The likes of West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brighton were also linked with Clarke in January, while it was Lazio that saw two offers turned down for his signature.
While Sunderland have been working on extending his stay at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland Echo have now reported that talks are ‘dead in the water’.
Clarke’s agent Ian Harte had recently spoke on his future, saying: ““The player has just obviously got to focus on what he’s doing at the moment, which is [playing] fantastically well, scoring goals, getting assists. But hopefully this summer we’ll probably see Jack moving. Where it may be, we don’t know just yet, but he’s in good place.”
It now looks like Harte will get his wish, with the Black Cats expected to demand in the region of £17 million to part ways with their star man this summer. Though the report does say they could earn a bigger fee if the 23-year-old is in high demand.
It is believed that Southampton are the latest club to show interest in Clarke, having already snapped up striker Ross Stewart in September.
Journalist Alan Nixon already reported that the Saints were considering a £15 million bid for the attacker – the same figure that was rejected from Lazio just last month.
How much will we get for Jack Clarke?
I don’t think many Sunderland fans were expecting Jack Clarke to stay this summer, though perhaps it would have been more likely without Michael Beale in the hot seat.
The former Tottenham Hotspur man is Premier League quality and so it is no surprise that he will leave, however £17m does seem rather low for a player of his importance.
I would hope that the amount of interest in his services will drive up the price, but I would hope we can rake in around £25m if we do our business right.
Using that money to replace him will certainly be tricky, as we certainly don’t have the pull to sign a player who is already at Clarke’s level and convince them to join (what could be) a mid-table Championship club.