How is Jack Clarke getting on at Ipswich Town after leaving Sunderland? | OneFootball

We looked at how winger Jack Clarke has fared at Ipswich Town since his big money summer move from Sunderland.

It is fair to say that the summer departure of winger Jack Clarke to Ipswich Town has not been as damaging as many Sunderland supporters had feared.

After months of speculation over his future, Clarke made the move to Ipswich in August for an initial fee of £15 million, plus £5 million in potential add-ons, and given his importance to Sunderland over the past few years, his exit looked like a major blow for the Wearside outfit.

However, despite losing Clarke, the Black Cats have emerged as surprise automatic promotion contenders in the Championship this season under the guidance of Regis Le Bris, and it could even be argued that the club have found an upgrade in Enzo Le Fee, who arrived on loan from Roma in January.

While Sunderland have not been adversely affected by Clarke's departure, the winger will always have a special place in the hearts of supporters, and we looked at how he is getting on at Ipswich.

Jack Clarke's time at Sunderland

Clarke struggled to make an impact at Tottenham Hotspur after joining the Premier League side for a fee in the region of £10 million in the summer of 2019, and it looked as though his career was at something of a crossroads after underwhelming loan spells with former club Leeds United, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City in the subsequent years.

However, Clarke's loan move to Sunderland in January 2022 proved to be a turning point for him, and after he helped the club to promotion from League One, the deal was made permanent in the summer.

Having found a home at the Stadium of Light, Clarke took his game to another level in the Championship, scoring 11 goals and providing 14 assists in 50 games as the Black Cats reached the play-offs in the 2022-23 campaign under Tony Mowbray.

Last season was nowhere near as productive for Sunderland as they recorded an underwhelming 16th-placed finish, but Clarke had an even better year on an individual level, scoring 15 goals and registering four assists in 42 appearances.

Clarke started this season with the Black Cats, and he got on the scoresheet in the 2-0 win at Cardiff City on the opening weekend, but his departure always seemed inevitable as rumours continued to gather pace about his future.

Bournemouth, Brentford and Southampton were among those said to have been interested in Clarke in the summer, but it was newly-promoted Premier League side Ipswich who eventually won the race for his signature.

How Jack Clarke has fared since swapping Sunderland for Ipswich Town

After joining Ipswich, Clarke stated that he was "really excited" to have made the switch to Portman Road, and given the outstanding job that manager Kieran McKenna had done at the club over the previous two years, leading them to back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, it looked like the perfect move for the winger.

However, the step up to the top flight has not been quite as seamless as Clarke would have hoped, and after initially being thrown straight into the Tractor Boys' starting line-up, the 24-year-old has found his game time somewhat limited in recent months.

Clarke has made just five starts for Ipswich in the Premier League this season, with only two of those coming since the middle of October in a 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace and a 6-0 loss against Manchester City, but he has still managed to provide two assists in 19 league games.

However, while the league has proven to be challenging, the FA Cup has been much more productive for Clarke, and he has scored three goals and registered two assists in just two games in the competition.

After opening his account for the Tractor Boys in the 3-0 win over League One side Bristol Rovers last month, he produced an outstanding display as he netted twice in the 4-1 victory at Coventry City in the fourth round on Saturday, earning him praise from McKenna post-match.

"You can’t underestimate the jump and the change for someone like Jack," McKenna told the East Anglian Daily Times.

"We’ve probably got a few players in that category, signing late in the transfer window, into a new group, never played in the Premier League, joining a club that hasn’t been in the Premier League for 22 years.

"Trying to settle into all that change in the toughest league in the world as an attacking player is not easy.

"We know how talented he is. He’s a player who we signed to help us this year, which he is, and for the future as well. I’m sure he’s going to keep improving and this today was not a big surprise to me."

Of course, Clarke proved during his time at Sunderland that he is more than capable of delivering against Championship opposition, but the winger now needs to show that he can perform in the Premier League, and he will hope that his brace against Coventry can be the start of a change in fortunes at Ipswich.