Sunderland to stand firm on Jack Clarke asking price ahead of transfer deadline

It is far from certain that Jack Clarke will still be at Sunderland next month, but Sunderland won't be making it easy for anyone to get him.

Jack Clarke, Sunderland /

Sunderland will stand firm on their Jack Clarke asking price with interest in the 23-year-old expected to ramp up in the closing weeks of the transfer window.

The winger reminded everyone just how good he was with a trademark goal against Cardiff on the opening day of the season, and he is not short on suitors.

However, with Crysencio Summerville and Jadon Philogene being plucked from the Championship this summer, the number of Premier League clubs prioritising investing in an inverted left-winger before the deadline has been cut considerably. Ipswich and Brentford appear to be the main ones to watch, although the Bees imminent £27.5million capture of Fabio Carvalho may knock them out of the running too. Southampton maintain an interest as well.

Whether any of those clubs would be willing to come up with the £25million deal it would take to persuade Sunderland to part with Clarke is another matter entirely. Although he has just two years left on his current deal, there is a sense that receiving up to £12million for an injured Ross Stewart in the final year of his deal last summer means Sunderland can be confident that Clarke will sufficiently maintain value to prevent any kind of panic sale.

Sunderland Nation understands the one player who may be moved on for big money this summer is Pierre Ekwah. Although the club are not actively seeking to sell the Frenchman, there is interest from multiple clubs and official offers have been received. Italian club Udinese are especially keen.

Ekwah has fallen down the pecking order following the signing of Alan Browne and the emergence of Chris Rigg, so if his value can be reinvested into positions of more pressing need, Sunderland will strongly consider it.

Any potential deal would need to be somewhat inflated, though, so it’s worth Sunderland’s while after paying former club West Ham their cut.

There are also a lot of loan outgoings to sort out. Jewison Bennette, Luis Hemir, and Joe Anderson look likely to head out if suitable deals can be found, and there is a flurry of interest in academy product Zak Johnson too.

However, with Jenson Seelt out until the turn of the year, Sunderland would be taking a bit of a risk by allowing both Anderson and Johnson to leave on loan this month, especially with question marks over Aji Alese's durability right now.

As Regis Le Bris has previously confirmed as well, Sunderland are also looking at potential loan deals for full-back Timothee Pembele.