Gus Poyet makes Jack Clarke transfer prediction and reveals cheeky suggestion to Sunderland owners

Former Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has admitted that he thinks its likely that Jack Clarke will leave the club before the end of the summer transfer window.

Clarke's departure has long been seen as a possibility in this window as he enters the final two years of his current contract with little prospect of a new deal being agreed. Ipswich Town and Southampton both hold an interest in the 23-year-old, who was also the subject of bids from Lazio in January and Burnley last summer. So far it has been a quiet window with the club yet to field any major interest, but that is expected to change in the coming weeks.

Poyet says he thinks departures are inevitable over the next few windows given the talent in the squad - and revealed the cheeky suggestion he made to the club's ownership after spending time with the club during their pre-season camp in Spain last week.

"There are a few who could go to the Premier League, different characters," Poyet told The Echo.

"Obviously everyone talks about Clarke leaving, I think he will. It will depend on the price and the money. I did say to one of the owners, perfection would be to sell him and keep him on loan for a year. That would be perfect! Everybody was laughing but it has happened before, a club that maybe wants to invest now but doesn't need him for this season. But in the position that Sunderland are in now, you have to expect that when a player does very well - he will eventually leave.

"I think when you go and see Bellingham, his style and his similarities with his brother - if you can have him and get him to play in one specific role and develop him, he has all the potential to become a Premier League player," Poyet added, speaking on behalf of freebets.com

"I think there are players who could in the near future leave. I always say to the owners and the sporting directors I work with, that's something you have to respect if you want to do well. If you do well, players will leave. There are two things that are very difficult, one is to have a ready replacement. And the most, most difficult thing for any club or sporting director, it's to get rid of the players that you don't want. You want to have a committed squad but the players that you tell are not in your plans, those ones are the most difficult to move on."

Only a massive bid will see Sunderland consider a sale this summer as they are under no financial pressure, while Clarke himself has made clear that he will not push for an exit.

"Obviously that interest has been there but it doesn't affect me," he told The Echo earlier this summer.

"I'm still wearing a red and white shirt at the end of the day. That's what I'm focusing on. As long as I'm in a red and white shirt, that's all I'll be focusing on. I'm coming in every single day, wearing Sunderland colours every day. As long as I'm playing for Sunderland I won't be thinking about anything else. If things are going to happen then they're going to happen when they happen. I'm not focusing on anything else other than the present and in the present I'm playing for Sunderland.”