Sunderland are fishing in the wrong hole for Jack Clarke replacement at Leeds United: View | OneFootball

There is an air of inevitability regarding Jack Clarke's future with Sunderland, meaning attention will have to turn to sourcing his replacement in the summer.

They have him to thank for plenty of their recent success, with the player developing rapidly at the Stadium of Light over the last few years. So much so, that he is arguably one of the two best left-wingers in the division, alongside Leeds United's Crysencio Summerville, and the key figure in both a goal-scoring and creative sense for the Black Cats.

Sunderland's main man is a force of nature at times. His fast dribbling, ball-carrying, and decisiveness in big moments make him a threat when attacking the box in the half-spaces, which is why he has caught the eye of so many in the league above the second tier, with Sunderland somewhat at the mercy of Premier League sharks.

Plenty of moving parts make a good promotion team, but Clarke has been a key component in Sunderland coming up from League One and flying up the table so rapidly in the Championship. All whilst he has 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.

Sourcing Jack Clarke's successor

When Clarke joined on loan from Tottenham in January 2022, it's important to remember that he didn't set the world alight, and he needed time to get up and running. Clarke made 20 appearances for the Black Cats during the second half of the 2021/22 season, and he scored just once, registering four assists.

It's a reminder that development isn't linear with all young footballers, but with time and patience, Clarke turned into a star for Sunderland. The issue is that he is now too good for the second tier, in the eyes of many. Recent reports in the last few months have emerged, adding further speculation regarding his future at the Stadium of Light.

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 West Ham and Brentford.

His agent, Ian Harte, revealed all about the negotiations last month. He said, to iNews, that he doesn't believe that his client will sign a new deal with the club:

"There’s not many people know this but in Jack’s contract he had to play a few games at the start of this season to then get offered a new deal," said Harte. "There was a deal that was offered but it wasn’t good enough.

"We were happy to sign a deal but that was earlier on in the summer time and it hasn’t been revisited.

"They have a [wage] structure. Lots of clubs have that. I don’t think [Sunderland] want to break any structure for any football player so I can’t see it happening, no."

It also goes without saying that if Clarke were to leave the club, Sunderland would not be able to go out and sign a replacement of anywhere near his quality, as they simply can't afford to do that. This means that they'll likely be relying on youngsters to learn on the job and develop into players of sufficient quality, or take a chance on a slightly older player.

Sunderland supporters should expect a work in progress rather than the finished article, and shouldn't write whoever replaces him off too soon, but they can expect that the money for Clarke can find them a decent player, even if they are not yet refined.

Ian Poveda as a replacement for Jack Clarke

Leeds United loanee Ian Poveda has played a key role in Sheffield Wednesday's Championship survival, and now looks set to find another new home this summer. After playing a sizeable role in aiding the Owls' survival bid and retaining their Championship status under manager Danny Röhl, the 24-year-old winger is now set to enter the summer window as a free agent.

Newly relegated duo Burnley and Luton Town are named alongside Sunderland in reports surrounding those battling for Poveda's signature. Any deal for Poveda would come without a price for the trio, given the fact he will become a free agent this summer.

A winger signing is absolutely necessary with Clarke a near certainty to depart for fresh pastures; however, Poveda may be a talented winger with a lot of upsides at a similar age, but he's not very like-for-like to Clarke when it comes to the most important thing: output.

Not only do they play opposite flanks, but he's more of a tricky winger than Clarke, with plenty of flair, and his dribbling ability in one-vs-one situations helped Wednesday to get up the pitch. However, the diminutive attacker is yet to really meet expectations wherever he has been until this season, as Poveda has failed to rip up any trees on loan with Blackburn and then Blackpool in the Championship in previous loan spells, too.

Poveda would have been hoping his latest loan to a fellow Yorkshire-based side in Wednesday could help reignite his career and help him to kick on in his development, which it certainly has to an extent, but he still lacks the quality and goal involvements needed in the final third to fill the shoes of a player of Clarke's quality.

His body feints and dropped shoulders will work space well for him, but he will flatter to decieve and have the cutting edge to make it count. Sunderland could sign Poveda as right-sided winger depth, where he would be a potentially useful player, but to replace Clarke on the left - they require much better.

Clarke's successor should have similar directness but also the ability to both score and create goals - Sunderland need to think twice if Poveda is their succession plan.