'Strange move' - Phil Bardsley claims player should not have sealed 'premature' Sunderland exit

Former Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley has claimed that talismanic winger Jack Clarke left the club prematurely over the summer, and should instead have spent another year on Wearside to help the Black Cats wrap up promotion - and to secure a bigger transfer for himself.

The attacker was a shining light in an otherwise underwhelming campaign at the Stadium of Light last term, scoring 15 goals and assisting four more across 40 Championship outings. Off the back of that impressive return, Clarke sealed a £15million move to Ipswich Town in late August, but has struggled to make much of an impact at Portman Road in the period since.

Indeed, at the time of writing, he has registered just five starts in the Premier League, and has recorded just one goal and three assists across all competitions. And with Clarke failing to replicate his best form for the Tractor Boys, Bardsley has questioned whether he should have left Sunderland in the first place.

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Speaking to Sports Boom, he said: “I liked Clarke, but I thought it was a really strange move he went to Ipswich. Nothing against Ipswich, but I don’t think they’ve got enough to stay in the Premier League.

“I thought it was a bit premature for him to leave. He’s obviously made a lot of noise and, when someone puts in a decent bit, well there’s not much you can do. But I think if he’d have had another decent season this season, then it could have taken Sunderland up. If he did that then his stock would have risen even higher, I think he’d have got a better move than Ipswich.”

Elsewhere, Bardsley also offered his opinion on Sunderland’s current crop of promotion hopefuls. He said: “It’s about putting your shoulders back and expressing yourself and taking the challenge on. They’ve got a good blend in the team, a little bit of experience and a little bit of steel, which is going to be needed, because people are going to question to you if a few results go against you."

“[Jobe] Bellingham is easy on the eye, he’s a bit like Jude isn’t he, and they’ve signed Alan Browne as well. You need experience in the middle of the pitch. The right-back [Trai] Hume is decent, the skipper Luke O’Nien has been a good servant to the club and a steady player, and they’ve got Patrick Roberts as well, he’s got decent trickery, creates stuff and scores a few goals.”

Addressing the Black Cats’ chances of a long-awaited return to the top flight more broadly, the former full-back said: “It would be great if the club could get back to the Premier League, but it’s such a big ask. After I left you could see things were not going in the right direction, you can’t start to see things unfold because there were people at the football club with zero experience.

“You could see it needed people in the right places to get the club back on track. Obviously it’s taken a period of time, but hopefully now they’ve got the right people in places and the right people on the pitch."