'Hopefully this summer we'll see Jack Clarke move,' says Sunderland star's agent
Jack Clarke will ‘hopefully’ get a move away from Sunderland in the summer, says his agent Ian Harte.
Clarke has been the outstanding player for Sunderland this season and possibly in the whole of the Championship as well.
That has led to plenty of interest, with Italian giants Lazio, who beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League this week, making two offers in January.
They were turned down, as were the derisory ones from Premier League side Burnley in the summer, but Harte is keen to get the winger a move at the end of the season.
“There was a couple of bids that come in from Lazio," Harte told the Tippy Tappy Football Podcast. "Sunderland didn't feel like wanted to sell the player in the January window.
“The player has just obviously got to focus on what he's doing at the moment, which is fantastically well, scoring goals, getting assists.
“But hopefully this summer we'll probably see Jack moving. Where it may be, we don't know just yet, but he's in good place.
“Sunderland, it's a good footballing team. It's a young group of players with a new manager and yeah, it's exciting to watch.
“I think it's going to be difficult to try and get into the playoffs but we'll have to wait and see what they can do.
“Last summer Burnley came in and bid to Sunderland to try and take Jack. Sunderland didn't feel the valuation was high enough and they turned it down.
“So, yeah, I think to players, obviously, being an ex player like myself, you just got to go out and focus on what you're getting paid to do, go out and perform for the team, which Jack has done. He's got 14 goals this season, four assists.
“It's flattering when big Italian teams are coming in and looking at a player like Jack, but the bread and butter is you've got to go out and do it week and week out at Sunderland and hopefully he’ll continue to do that.”
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