Burnley and Brentford blow as Jack Clarke's Sunderland stance revealed | OneFootball

Highlights

Jack Clarke’s agent, Ian Harte, has revealed that his client remains “happy” at Sunderland and does not want to leave the club in the January transfer window.

The winger has rediscovered his best form in a Black Cats shirt, as he’s been crucial to the club’s rise through the football league in recent seasons.

His form hasn’t gone unnoticed, with teams taking an interest in the 22-year-old in the last few transfer windows.

The summer transfer window was a big test for Sunderland, as they received numerous bids from Premier League sides Burnley and Brentford for Clarke’s services.

Burnley were said to have a bid of around £15 million turn down for Clarke during the summer, and it has since been revealed that Sunderland would be looking for around £20 million in January.

But despite this valuation emerging, Harte insists that Clarke is loving life playing for Sunderland Football Club.

What has Ian Harte said about Jack Clarke’s future at Sunderland?

It is expected that interest in the summer is going to reappear once again when the January transfer window opens.

But Harte is firmly stating that his client is happy with Sunderland and “loves it” at the Stadium of Light.

Harte told iNews: “Jack is happy. He loves it at Sunderland.

“Obviously there was a club that came in over the summer to try and take him away. They put the offer in to Sunderland, Sunderland declined and obviously [in that situation] Jack has to stay professional, he has to still go and put performances in and that’s what he’s done and that’s what he’ll continue to do.”

Harte knows that, given Sunderland’s transfer strategy, it may be taken out of Clarke’s hands in terms of what they do, but on the player’s side, there is no desire to leave the club before his contract ends.

Harte added: “I’ve always said Jack is happy at Sunderland, he loves it at the club, he gets on with the group of players.

“I’m guessing Sunderland have a valuation, if that valuation is met then I’m sure they’ll be on to me and onto Jack saying ‘thanks for your time but it’s time to move on’ in the nicest way possible.”

Sunderland have continued more or less from where they left off last season, showing ambition that they want to be in and around the play-off places come the end of the campaign.

It was a very good start made by the Black Cats, but in recent weeks results have slipped off, and that has resulted in them sliding down the table and mounting pressure on Tony Mowbray.

They ended their two-game losing streak on Saturday, as they claimed a 1-1 draw away at Millwall, but it did little to end the talk from Sunderland supporters.

That point means the Black Cats are in ninth place in the table, with 27 points, meaning they are three points adrift of sixth-place Hull City and 10 behind fourth-place Southampton.

Mowbray’s men will be hoping to end their winless run when they face West Bromwich Albion on Saturday lunchtime at the Stadium of Light.

Will Sunderland sell Jack Clarke in the January transfer window?

Sunderland will hope they can get through January with their squad intact, and it is more about which players arrive than who leaves.

But with the news emerging that they have set an asking price for Clarke, it means that while they will not want to lose him, they are saying that if this offer comes in, then they will accept it.

Obviously, Sunderland’s transfer strategy means they will sell players for the right price, but given how important Clarke is, it would be silly to sell him midway through the campaign, especially when he is still under a long-term contract.