Sunderland agree £20m fee with Ipswich for talisman Jack Clarke

If Sunderland are going to mount a promotion push this season, they will have to do it without Jack Clarke as he nears move to Ipswich.

Sunderland winger Jack Clarke / IMAGO / News Images

Sunderland will have to launch a promotion push without Jack Clarke after they agreed to sell the winger to Ipswich in a £20million deal.

It always looked a tough task to retain the winger for another season in the Championship, especially with Clarke going into the last two years of his deal and Sunderland unable to get close to the terms required to extend it.

He will now depart for the Premier League newcomers, while Sunderland scramble to try to replace the winger.

The fee received is a little less than the £25million price tag Sunderland had put on him, but there is a significant sell-on included as well.

Clarke will travel to Ipswich on Friday for a medical before signing a long-term deal with the Tractor Boys.

Meanwhile, attention at Sunderland will turn to how to replace Clarke. Romaine Mundle was signed as a succession plan, although he is still raw and a little way behind in his development. However, the club do rate him highly and believe in him.

🔵🚜 Ipswich Town agree deal to sign Jack Clarke from Sunderland, here we go!

Package worth £20m with add-ons included.#SAFC also secured a sell on clause as part of the deal.

One more important, ambitious signing for #ITFC. pic.twitter.com/lOmUEncTBx

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 22, 2024

Similar to Clarke when he first signed, Sunderland believe Mundle will improve considerably with regular game time, but they must weigh up whether the time is right for that.

Other options in the squad include Abdoullah Ba, Nazariy Rusyn and Ian Poveda, and all three could be rotated if an obvious solution in the transfer market doesn’t present itself.

What we can say is that this is now a big test of the much talked about Sunderland ‘model’. Selling top players after developing them is just the end of a never-ending cycle and one the club will embrace. Whether they can repeat the Clarke trip with a Mundle will be the big question, and fans will be keeping a close eye on whether the club’s ambition in the transfer market when armed with money from sales match their own.