£25m-rated Sunderland star speaks to fans post-Blackpool despite transfer links - everything said

Sunderland’s star man Jack Clarke started and scored the winner for the Black Cats against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on Saturday afternoon.

The former Leeds United and Tottenham man’s inclusion in Régis Le Bris’ squad once again this pre-season strongly suggests that his exit from the club is not close despite high-profile transfer interest.

Clarke - who is rated by Sunderland at around £25million - has been the subject of interest from Ipswich Town and Southampton this summer.

However, after the game against Blackpool, the attacker spoke to fans through the club’s social media channels, suggesting a transfer is not currently close. Here’s everything the sought-after winger said:

On the Blackpool win and scoring

JC: “I thought we had some good spells. I think you can see what the manager is trying to implement. And obviously, we're just trying to make sure that we give a good reflection of ourselves and try to do things right. And I think for large parts of the game today, we got things right. And I'm happy with the performance.

“Like everybody else, I'm just trying to get back into the swing of things, dust off the cobwebs and try and learn. Because the new manager has come in and he wants us to play a different style than maybe what we're used to. And we're all trying to adapt and I'm part of that as well.”

On playing 90 minutes against Blackpool

JC: “Obviously, you want to be playing 90 minutes before the season comes about. And I think the first one's always the hardest and we've managed to get that out of the way. But it'll be good for us in the long run and we'll take it into the up and coming week. The games are starting to come thick and fast now.”

On the games coming thick and fast

JC: “In the Championship, you've got three game weeks every other week, to be honest. So you've got to be ready to play at all times. And I think the next two games are obviously going to be different tests and two more tough tests. And we'll need to be ready for them to put us in the best shape for the season.”