Sunderland Nation

Sunderland reject offer for Jack Clarke and consider him 'not for sale' in January

It looks like Sunderland will resist any temptation to sell Jack Clarke this month as their summer asking price is revealed.

Michael Graham

Sunderland reject offer for Jack Clarke and consider him 'not for sale' in January
Sunderland reject offer for Jack Clarke and consider him 'not for sale' in January /

Sunderland will not sell Jack Clarke this month despite receiving an offer from Italian giants Lazio.

Clarke has been a stand-out player for Sunderland this season and he registered his 16th goal contribution of the season in the 3-1 win over Stoke this weekend.

He has been linked with a host of Premier League clubs, with West Ham, Brentford, Burnley, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace all taking a good look at him.

Last week sporting director Kristjaan Speakman confirmed there has been no offers for Clarke, but that has now changed with Lazio lodging a bid of €16million (around £13.5million) this weekend.

Fabrizio Romano, though, says Sunderland’s position is firm and the club ‘consider Clarke not for sale’ this month.

The offer is also significantly less than Sunderland want for Clarke, and they believe they can get £25million for the former Leeds man this summer if they are not promoted themselves.

Spurs will be due 2% of any sale, and Sunderland want as close to £20million from any sale to reinvest as possible.

It is important to note, though, that when Clarke or other star players are sold, the ‘reinvestment’ will not just be on transfer fees.

Much of it will, but some will also be used on things that supporters can’t necessarily see on the surface, such as raising the wage ceiling at the club, contract extensions for existing players, and the academy.

That decision won’t be needed this month, though, as Clarke seems all but certain to remain at Sunderland until the summer at least. 

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Michael Graham
MICHAEL GRAHAM

Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football.  Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion.  Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk

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