Kristjaan Speakman explains why Sunderland accepted Jack Clarke bid, why time was right to sell and what's next

Sunderland's sporting director believes that the club have the options they need to compete without Jack Clarke and that it would not have been realistic to stand in the way of a Premier League move for the second summer in a row.

Kristjaan Speakman sanctioned Clarke's move to Ipswich Town ahead of the final week of the transfer window, having rejected a number of bids from Burnley last summer. Clarke was into the final two years of his current deal and there was a significant gap between the two parties, meaning a contract renewal was deemed highly unlikely.

Speakman said the deal, believed to be in the region of £15 million with around £5 million in potential add-ons, made financial sense in that context and added that they have to show potential future recruits that they will not stand in their way if their development outstrips the clubs.

"First of all, there's a definitely a business element to it and then there's a player element to it as well," Speakman told The Echo.

"So last year we had a significant bid, which was less than the one we accepted this summer, and we basically stopped the player moving. Does the player want to play in the Premier League? Yes, but at the same time he was more than happy to continue his journey with us and came back and performed extremely well. When that opportunity comes back up again, I think it's difficult for the second occasion to say that we're not going to allow it again.

"It makes it really difficult to sign players like Milan [Aleksic] because if they feel there's not going to be that opportunity in future, the talent pathway would soon dry up. So we had to understand where Jack was, what he wanted to do.

"The second bit is the business bit, how competitive we think the offer is and where does it sit for a player whose contract is reducing. It's the highest package we'd been able to negotiate and we felt it was the right moment to take it. I don't think we get anywhere near that value next summer or the following January. And then you have to consider as I say the player pathway, player injury, all those other potential factors.

"We're really proud of our strategy and within it there's some difficult decisions to be made. We're really comfortable, we think we've got players who can come through and perform to that level, now the challenge for them is to get to that level and consistency that Jack had. Only time will tell on that of course but at the minute, we're really positive."

Though many supporters had expected Clarke's departure given his superb form last season and the reality of his contractual situation, there were many left frustrated by the fee in the context of some of the other transfers from the Championship to the Premier League. Speakman insists that Sunderland have got a good deal for the 23-year-old, who attracted fewer bids than had been anticipated at the start of the summer. That was central to Speakman's belief that his value would fall as his contract wound down over the next three transfer window.

"It's difficult to get into details of the fee, you can never give the full details or the full picture and you don't want judgements to be made on just bits of the picture," Speakman said.

"On the fee and finance, hopefully supporters trust that we're good enough at running the club to make the right decision on things like that. In terms of why it was the right fee, rightly or wrongly there was perhaps less interest in Jack that what maybe people perceived on the outside. It was not the situation that we had a large number of clubs sending in offers or making requests to speak to the player. So you have to assess the market and where it's likely to be in future as a result, and then you make the decision on whether it's the right opportunity."

Sunderland signed Wilson Isidor on loan from Zenit St Petersburg shortly before Clarke's departure, the Frenchman a striker primarily and seen as a key player in the club's bid to replace Clarke's goals. Striker Ahmed Abdullahi has also arrived from Gent, with former Spurs and Standard Liege winger Romaine Mundle already in the building after joining in January.

Speakman says Mundle deserves the opportunity to play but has said that the club are prepared to revisit the situation in January if needs be.

Speakman said: "So obviously there is Romaine, he's trained diligently and developed himself hugely - he deserves an opportunity to play and so far he's made a huge impact. That's really, really pleasing. In terms of recruiting externally, we're really pleased. Wilson has made in the region of 150 senior appearances, scored in the region of 50 goals across that period. We've definitely recruited someone who can and has scored goals, and the question is of course whether he can do it here. He's a very good player but to be fair, at the minute he isn't in our team because the current number nine [Eliezer Mayenda] is doing really, really well.

"We'll turn our attention to January, we'll track our player's progress, those we like externally, those who might be available, and we'll make the decisions on the same requirements which is to improve our team."