Sunderland winger Romaine Mundle reveals classy message from Jack Clarke before Ipswich Town transfer

Sunderland winger Romaine Mundle has revealed conversations with Jack Clarke after the winger’s transfer to Ipswich Town.

Clarke has made the move to the Premier League club for a total package thought to be in the region of around £20million, including add-ons and a sell-on fee. Mundle was parachuted in to start for Régis Le Bris against Burnley in the Championship at the Stadium of Light on Saturday following Clarke’s departure.

The 21-year-old repaid the faith shown in him by scoring what proved to be the winning goal against Scott Parker’s side in front of 40,096 fans on Wearside. The London-born winger, however, revealed conversations with his now former teammate with Clarke offering advice to his understudy.

“Jack's my best friend so he messaged me before the game as well and we spoke and he kind of just said you deserve this moment,” Mundle said when asked about Clarke’s departure. “So it's not really just a competition between me and Jack. I love Jack to bits and I hope he does great things as well for Ipswich.”

Asked what else Clarke had told him, Mundle added: “Just to keep doing what I'm doing because obviously from Tottenham days he knows what I can do as well. He's got a lot of history so he does know what I'm capable of but he just told me just to keep shining.”

Clarke and Mundle played together as youngsters for Tottenham Hotspur before going their separate ways. Clarke would eventually join Sunderland after several loan stints with Mundle ending up on Wearside after a spell with Standard Liege.

The decision by Mundle to leave Spurs was seen as bold at the time with the Premier League club open to keeping the London-born player at the club. Mundle, though, wanted to kick start his career and play games in a first-team environment.

“It was a step that I decided to take just to kind of create a pathway for myself,” Mundle added about his Spurs exit. “It was a tough decision but more mainly just to get in the first team set up and play football in the men's first team. It was just about playing men's football and getting that experience and getting the experience.”