Sunderland AFC: Electric Jack Clarke displays will spark bittersweet emotions - View | OneFootball

The winger has made an impressive start to the season, but this will only raise the interest in him from other clubs.

Sunderland AFC have a nervous two weeks ahead of them, with the transfer window coming to a close on August 30 and the club needing to hold on to their star player after he started the new season the same way he ended the last.

The Black Cats ran out 2–0 winners in their opening fixture of 2024/25 away to Cardiff City, with Luke O'Nien, 29, heading in the first, before Jack Clarke, 23, sealed the victory in stoppage time.

Clarke's goal was the 28th of his Sunderland career, having scored 15 in 2023/24, finishing the campaign as the club's top goalscorer.

However, his impressive form since his arrival in the north-east has meant that teams in the Premier League have been circling this summer in an attempt to pry him away from the Stadium of Light after two and a half years.

Both Ipswich Town and Southampton have been linked with moves for Clarke, but the high price that has been set by Sunderland has seen both clubs reduce their interest in the last few weeks.

Clarke has carried over his form from last season for Sunderland

After signing for Tottenham Hotspur from Leeds United in 2019, many expected Clarke to become a consistent Premier League player as the years went on. But, after an unsuccessful start to his career in North London, and loans to the Championship with the Whites, QPR and Stoke City the winger was sent to Sunderland.

It has been with the Black Cats where the 23-year-old has shown his best form, and joined the club permanently ahead of the 2022/23 campaign after helping the club to promotion from League One while on loan.

Clarke has improved year-on-year, and was fantastic last season, proving to be the club's talisman in place of Sunderland's struggling strikers.

His goals fired the club into the play-off race in the first half of the campaign, before a poor run of results for the team saw them slide into mid-table mediocrity.

Yet, in the opening game of 2024/25, Clarke proved that he is not a one-hit wonder, and advertised his talents with a fantastic finish into the bottom corner after taking the ball away from the outstretched leg of Perry Ng.

Clubs will be monitoring Clarke

Although there is yet to be a bid placed for the winger, teams will be watching Clarke in the coming weeks, as they attempt to pry him out of the Black Cats' hands.

Leeds are "well aware" of their former wonderkid, according to Mike McGrath, as they look for a replacement for Crysencio Summerville following his departure to West Ham United at the start of the month.

Yet, as the window draws to a close, Sunderland will be less and less willing to sell their star, as it gets harder to replace him.

The 23-year-old is yet to sign a new contract, despite rumours that he has, with his current deal set to expire in the summer of 2026. If he can be tied up for a few more years, it plays into Sunderland's hands, and they will hold all the cards in regard to keeping Clarke at the Stadium of Light.