Jack Clarke transfer latest: Contract situation, Sunderland stance and likely valuation explained

With more discussion over Jack Clarke's Sunderland future in recent days, we've pulled together this Q&A to explain the background and the latest - as well as a look forward as to what might happen over the coming months.

Take a look below...

What is Jack Clarke's current contract situation?

Clarke currently has just over two-and-a-half years run on the four-year deal he signed when moving permanently from Spurs last summer.

Sunderland would like to agree fresh terms with the winger, not just to give them added protection but also to reward him for his obvious progress in the last twelve months.

Proactive contract management has been a key part of their footballing strategy since Kyril Louis-Dreyfus' takeover, with Anthony Patterson, Dan Neil and Trai Hume all signing new deals earlier this year despite having a number of years to run on their existing contracts.

Why hasn't he agreed a new one yet and should supporters be concerned?

Given that Clarke is under contract until 2026, there is no major time pressure for either party. With Patrick Roberts, there is a more obvious urgency required given that the winger is out of contract next summer and there has been transfer interest from elsewhere. As such, talks with Clarke are at this stage in their infancy and it will likely be a relatively lengthy process. So it's of no great concern that an agreement has not been struck at this point.

What is clearly also true is that Sunderland face a major challenge in reaching a new agreement. There are similarities with Ross Stewart's situation in that it is now clear that there are a number of clubs who want to sign Clarke at some stage and who can offer terms that far exceeds Sunderland's current wage ceiling. As a result, it would make no sense for the player to rush into a new agreement.

The club would like to lift their wage ceiling over time, but do not want to break it significantly for one player and then be potentially pressured into doing the same for their next round of negotiations with other players. Sustainability is a key goal for the hierarchy and without Premier League TV money, a spiralling wage bill is the biggest challenge for any Championship club and the root cause of many who have fallen foul of financial fair play and faced a prolonged struggle as a result. That concern has of course to be set against the need to retain the calibre of play who can fire Sunderland to the top tier, and Clarke is most clearly that.

It's a challenge Sunderland will keep facing as long as they are in the Championship and so long as that remains the case, the risk of losing players is obvious. There will be a significant gap to bridge if Sunderland are to tie Clarke to a new deal, and at the moment it's not clear if they have the capacity to do so. It may well be that only promotion would allow them to do so.

What's the transfer latest with Jack Clarke?

A number of Premier League clubs were tracking Clarke ahead of the summer transfer window but only newly-promoted Burnley submitted formal bids.

As it happened, they fell well short of Sunderland's valuation and were believed even by the end of the window only to be around the £10 million mark (given the way deals are heavily structured and incentivised in the modern game, arriving at an exact fee is difficult).

The Black Cats were never going to sell at that fee, and as such were fairly relaxed about the situation over the course of the summer.

Brentford and Crystal Palace have been reported to have a long-standing interest in Clarke, with the former said by the Sun on Sunday to be monitoring his availability ahead of the January window. This could present an altogether different challenge to Sunderland, as we are now talking about established top-tier teams. For financial and for sporting reasons, that will be tough to compete with at this current stage.

What might Sunderland's valuation for Jack Clarke be?

Well, significantly upwards of £10 million, clearly.

Sunderland will keep their valuation closely under wraps but a look at the kind of fees other Championship wingers have commanded when leaving for top-tier clubs is instructive. Again, these figures are not precise but help us to understand what Sunderland will likely be thinking behind the scenes. West Ham United paid around £20 million to sign Jarrod Bowen in 2020, while Brentford themselves paid a reported initial £16 million to sign Keane Lewis-Potter from Hull City in 2022. Having shone on loan at Burnley last season, Southampton sold Nathan Tella to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for a fee reported to be in the region of £20 million.

There is no reason why Clarke shouldn't be seen in that bracket, given his form last season and this - as well as his impressive breakthrough at Leeds United in the early stages of his career at Championship level. Spurs will also be entitled to a chunk of the fee as part of the deal that saw Sunderland sign Clarke for a bargain fee in 2022, which also has to be taken into account.

Did Jack Clarke want to leave Sunderland in the summer?

No, he didn't - though he would have been open to talks had a fee been agreed and so may well have departed eventually.

Though it was reported towards the end of the summer window that Clarke was left frustrated by Sunderland's unwillingness to accept Burnley's bids, club sources insisted that was not the case.

From their conversations with Clarke (and Mowbray said the same on record) they felt that the winger would absolutely have been prepared to speak to Burnley given the chance to play in the Premier League and all that entails, but that the 22-year-old was relaxed and in no rush to leave. He loves playing for Sunderland, appreciates the responsibility he has been given and how it has helped him rebuild his career after some bruising loan spells. He also understood that playing another season on Wearside could potentially get him to the Premier League with Sunderland - the ideal scenario. If not, then another year playing regularly and thriving would bolster his chances of getting a move to the top tier and with a greater chance of going to a club as a potential regular as opposed to a squad option.

The winger himself has spoken of how much he is enjoying his football at Sunderland in recent weeks, having been named the Championship Player of the Month for September. He has not pushed for an exit at any stage and appears unlikely to do so anytime soon, even if he obviously has Premier League ambitions that at some stage will become a factor.

Are Sunderland under any pressure to sell in the January window and what might happen moving forward?

No. Sunderland were able to get a significant fee for Ross Stewart on deadline day in the summer, which means they are well placed financially and not under any pressure to sell.

Of course a huge bid for any player in January could change the picture but as of now, there is no pressure on Sunderland to sell in January. They know they are likely to be tested and the level of potential finances involved make the outcome difficult to predict.

There is clearly some uncertainty to Clarke's long-term future, as there would be for anyone playing at his current level in the Championship. Were Sunderland to get to next summer without a new contract agreed, then their stance might have to change if they do not win promotion to the Premier League. With two years left on his deal at that point, then his value would be at its peak and at a point where a sale would give the club huge scope for reinvestment into their squad.

In all of this there are so many variables at play and for now, Sunderland can simply enjoy Clarke's stunning performances - he has been an exceptional signing and the story isn't over yet.