Southampton and Leicester City join transfer chase for Sunderland star who decides to join The Saints
The Saints and Foxes are perhaps ambitiously in the hunt for Jack Clarke, along with multiple Premier League clubs
Thanks to his performances for Sunderland this season in the Championship, Jack Clarke finds himself a wanted man, just like he was a few years ago when he was making an impact for Leeds United.
The 23-year-old enjoyed a fantastic season for the Black Cats in 2022-23 as they made it into the second tier play-offs, and he’s already outscored himself for the current campaign after just 26 matches played.
Due to the non-scoring of Sunderland’s actual strikers, the winger has had to take games by the scruff of the neck at times, and his 12 goals so far just show how important he has been to the Black Cats.
Naturally, Clarke is the subject of interest from a lot of clubs, with no fewer than six clubs actively interested in a deal this month or monitoring the winger ahead of a potential swoop, with West Ham, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Wolves, Everton and Bournemouth named as the keen parties, per The Northern Echo.
And whilst it is likely only Premier League clubs will have the funds to make a potential deal for Clarke happen, there is surprise interest as well from some of the Wearside outfit’s Championship rivals.
Leicester City and Southampton join transfer chase for Sunderland winger
Per the same Northern Echo report, two other clubs that are keen to sign Clarke are both Leicester City and Southampton.
The Foxes of course are leading the way at the top of the second tier standings by a large margin from Ipswich Town, whilst the Saints are actively chasing down the Tractor Boys along with Leeds United.
Both clubs have parachute payments currently and are looking to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, and the pair are both interested in Clarke.
Unlike most Championship clubs though, Southampton and Leicester are likely to have the funds should they see fit to try and make a deal happen – it’s just a case of whether they try to make bids in January or the summer, by which point they could be promoted and back in the top flight of English football.
The Premier League interest in Clarke makes a lot of sense – at times he looks too good for the Championship and for a club like West Ham, who are in European competition and need some more flair, spending £20 million or more on him would be a good deal.
But the chances of Clarke making the move from Sunderland – where he seems happy enough and has two-and-a-half years left on his contract – to another second tier club just do not make sense for now.
If Leicester and Southampton were both to be promoted, then approaches in the summer – should Clarke still be at Sunderland and the Black Cats still be in the Championship – would make sense.
But they will have little to no chance of landing Clarke this month – it’s ambitious enough though to be interested in taking him from Sunderland.
