"I'd bite your hand off" - Sunderland urged to seal sensational deal to re-sign Ipswich Town star Jack Clarke | OneFootball

Could Clarke be tailor-made for Regis Le Bris' Premier League side?

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sunderland secured a dramatic return to the Premier League this past weekend with a play-off final win over Sheffield United, and attentions will now quickly need to turn towards transfers for sporting director Kristjaan Speakman.

The Black Cats' promotion earns them a minimum of £200 million, and given the struggles of Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town in 2024-25 after their own rises into the top flight, there is going to be some sensible signings needed to blend the young core of Regis Le Bris' squad with experience.

With the expected exit of Jobe Bellingham sooner rather than later, the transfer coffers will be bolstered further, and with plenty of players no doubt set to be linked with moving to Wearside, would it be wise for the club's hierarchy to pursue a return for Jack Clarke?

Sunderland urged to make Jack Clarke move in summer transfer window

After a 2023-24 season where he scored 15 times and notched four assists for Sunderland, Clarke was always expected to depart the Stadium of Light for pastures new last summer, although it was somewhat of a surprise that he joined Ipswich in an initial £15 million deal rather than a more established Premier League club.

Clarke however failed to score a Premier League goal and started just 12 times out of his 32 top flight outings, and when watching the Tractor Boys in action, there was a clear stylistic mismatch, with Leif Davis as an attacking left-back occupying the space that the winger would tend to play in for Sunderland, leaving him to play in a narrower role.

Now that Ipswich are back in the Championship and Davis has been linked with a move to Nottingham Forest, there's a chance that Clarke could thrive under Kieran McKenna in the second tier, but FLW's Black Cats fan pundit Jordan Newcombe believes Sunderland should be looking to buy the 24-year-old back from the Suffolk side as soon as possible - although for a lower price than what they sold him for.

"Obviously there's no doubt that we need to strengthen our squad, we need players that fit our club and our style, and the one name that a few people have said since the day he left is Jack Clarke," Jordan told FLW.

"We've always looked at Clarke as one of the high-potential players in the squad, and 100 per cent I'd bring him back. I'd 100 per cent make an offer and try to bring him in.

"But, for how he's played at Ipswich, a £15 million move is not the correct price - it has dipped for me, but that's just due to how he's been playing.

"He's got a few goals under his belt but he hasn't really been getting used at Ipswich, and if they get a red card or an injury, it always seems to be Clarke that gets subbed off, and it's like Ipswich don't trust him to provide on the left-hand side.

"You've seen his track record at Sunderland - I've got no doubt that a Premier League move was the correct decision for Clarke, but the only issue is was Ipswich going to be the correct move, and it's clearly obvious that it wasn't.

"I know he's come out and said he wants to fight for his place, but he hasn't looked motivated, he seemed to be down. It just goes to show that if (agent) Ian Harte didn't get into his head too much to persuade him to take the Ipswich move, he may have been in the Premier League either way.

"It seems to me that Ian Harte didn't trust Sunderland to go up, and he had no faith in Sunderland at all and Jack Clarke would be better without - I'm not one to take digs but Ian Harte is the reason why Jack Clarke's career has somewhat spiralled.

"We all know Jack can put 110 per cent out on that pitch, we know he likes to cut in from the left and hit it on the curl with his right foot, but it seems to be the system at Ipswich has not worked out for him.

"And having a team where it just clicks would be amazing, because if we bring him in we've got Clarke as a starter and Romaine Mundle as a backup, and that to me there is absolutely perfect. Bringing back Jack Clarke would be one of the best moves we could do, and I know because deep down, we know this man can fit our system, can drive us forward.

"It goes to show that some business is bad when it comes to football, and for Jack Clarke it seemed like he wanted the best for his career, and he thought he was doing that by going to a Premier League club - it just turned out the club was the wrong one. The timing and the way he wanted to go to a Prem team was fully deserved, just the team wasn't correct.

"If he came back, I'd welcome him with open arms, and he was also a vital part of our race to get promotion in our first two games against Cardiff and Sheffield Wednesday at the start of the season. If we have a chance of getting him back then I'd bite your hand off to get it done.

"If Le Bris can go back in for him and see that option then I'd tell him to go for it - this club and the fanbase will love seeing Clarke come back, and they'd have the same reaction with Clarke as they would with Amad if he came back."

Jack Clarke and Sunderland are a match made in heaven but cut-price Ipswich Town sale surely out of the question

Having briefly worked under Regis Le Bris at the start of the season, Clarke will know all about the Frenchman and how he coaches, and having been in the crowd at Wembley on Saturday to watch the promotion be secured, you'd expect Clarke would welcome a return to the Stadium of Light.

With Tommy Watson heading to Brighton, a vacancy has opened up on the left flank to compete with Romaine Mundle, and whilst there will be other options in England and across the world, Clarke may thrive in the setup at Sunderland that he's already proven to excel in.

The one issue is though that Ipswich will likely ask for their money back or even to turn a profit on Clarke, and that is despite not really fitting in to McKenna's system last season.

The suggestion that Sunderland should go in with a bid lower than they sold him for would probably get laughed off by the Ipswich hierarchy, so if they do want to bring him back to Wearside, the bidding may have to start at £15 million.