Simon Grayson’s warning for Sunderland owners over sale of West Ham target Jack Clarke | OneFootball

Former Sunderland boss Simon Grayson has warned the Black Cats owners to reinvest a large chunk of the fee raised from the potential sale of Jack Clarke this summer.

As a manager, Grayson has enjoyed success with plenty of clubs, albeit not with Sunderland. He was raised in the North East, but would only oversee 18 competitive outings in charge of his local side, winning on just three occasions before losing his job.

However, their fortunes have turned around in recent seasons, winning promotion back to the Championship, and securing a play-off spot last year thanks in large part to Clarke - a key player and catalyst their rapid rise, who scored nine goals and claimed a further 12 assists in Championship and play-off matches last season.

Plenty of moving parts make a good promotion team, but Clarke has been a key cog in Sunderland flying up the table so rapidly and taken huge strides forward in his personal development in the process, which has continued this term as well, only fuelling further speculation regarding his future.

His 15 goals and four assists are sure to have caught the eye even further ahead of the summer. According to Football Insider, the Black Cats believe it will be extremely difficult to hold onto the 23-year-old beyond the current campaign. The Sunderland star is attracting interest from several top-flight clubs, including the likes of West Ham United and Brentford.

Simon Grayson's Jack Clarke verdict

Grayson is confident that Clarke will depart this summer, but has warned his former side to reinvest a large chunk of the funds raised from a sale, should a team like West Ham make a move to sign the 23-year-old winger.

Speaking to Football League World via GamingGadgets.de, he said: “That will be determined by having actual offers on the table. There was talk in January that there were some offers there and Sunderland decided that they were more than happy to keep him to try and get into the play-offs and into the Premier League.

“It will be interesting in the summer to see what direction that they’re going to go in. Will they get good enough money for Jack? Will Jack want to be in the Championship next year when he has got opportunities in higher divisions?

“It will be an interesting summer. What Sunderland will need to do if they do sell Jack Clarke is that a large amount of that money goes back into the playing squad to give them a far better opportunity to get promoted next season as well. “There will be a lot of disappointed fans if they get X amount of money for Jack Clarke and hardly any of it is used on a promotion push for the following season.

“That will be down to the owners and what Jack Clarke wants to do as well but good players are always wanted by other football clubs in better divisions.”

Jack Clarke's sale could benefit Sunderland

Grayson is absolutely spot on with his assessment of the situation, and a strategy that plenty of Championship sides should be looking to benefit from as well.

Acquiring younger players with resale value and plenty of potential to flip them on for more money than they were initially signed for, and to reinvest that into the playing squad is perhaps the best way to go for the Black Cats.

Clubs such as Brighton and Brentford have employed this strategy to the optimum extent, helping them to gain promotion and punch their way into mid-table quickly in the Premier League.

Clarke is almost certain to leave this summer, but it could have a net positive impact, should the club operate smartly within the market by signing other Clarke-like players who have the time on their side to develop with Sunderland.