Sunderland could still lose their key man in the ‘final two weeks’ of the January transfer window.
The Black Cats have had a rather quiet start to the 2024 so far, despite seeing a number of players linked with moves to the Premier League.
Anthony Patterson and Dan Neil have both been linked with moves to Liverpool lately, while Pierre Ekwah’s poor form hasn’t prevented him from also being linked with the top flight.
But the player who looks the most likely to earn himself a big money move is Jack Clarke, who has attracted a growing amount of interest since the summer.
The winger was the subject of bids from Burnley at the start of the campaign, but his brilliant start to the season has seen the likes of Brighton, Crystal Palace and Brentford join the pursuit.
There haven’t been any concrete bids for Clarke made yet, but it now looks like West Ham could prove to be Sunderland’s biggest threat in January.
It was reported at the start of the month that David Moyes’ side are interested in signing Clarke, following injuries to Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta, while Said Benhrama is expected to leave too.
There had been no further update on West Ham’s pursuit of the 22-year-old, but Sky Sports report Dharmesh Sheth has claimed the deal is ‘one to keep an eye on’ in the final weeks of the window.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Sheth said: “It might be a case of West Ham United having areas that they want to strengthen regardless of injuries. I think the left-forward area may be an area that they could strengthen in this transfer window.
“They have been linked with a number of players and looking at the likes of Jack Clarke, at Sunderland. That is just one to keep an eye on in the final two weeks of the window.
“After the midweek defeat to Bristol City, David Moyes was actually saying that he thinks they will be able to bring someone in during the rest of the transfer window, so that is one to keep an eye on for West Ham.”
Will Sunderland lose Jack Clarke this month?
Selling Jack Clarke in the January window would be an absolute disaster for Sunderland, and the only thing that could make it worse is offloading him right at the end, when the club don’t have time to replace him.
It really wouldn’t surprise me if the Black Cats were daft enough to let this happen though, while I feel like the attacker may well be considering the move too.
Clarke hasn’t been given as many opportunities to impress since Michael Beale introduced this dull, drab style of football, while his chance of guiding us to the play-offs look less and less likely by the day.
If Sunderland received a reasonable bid over the next week or so, I don’t think Clarke would be afraid to jump straight up to the Premier League. Meanwhile, we would be left with even less of an attacking threat.