Romaine Mundle’s signing may be the long-term solution Sunderland FC needs to replace Jack Clarke.
Romaine Mundle may be the long-term Jack Clarke successor Sunderland FC has been looking for, despite his lack of first team football experience.
Despite losing two of their best scorers last summer and changing managers at the conclusion of the previous season, the Black Cats have excelled thus far by contending for the Championship play-off spots.
After his loan at the Stadium of Light expired, Amad Diallo returned to Manchester United, and in the summer, striker Ross Stewart moved to Southampton for a reported £8 million.
Following their departures, Clarke assumed leadership of the Stadium of Light. As the team’s top scorer at the moment, he is largely responsible for their challenge for a top six finish in a difficult season marked by numerous changes, including the firing of manager Tony Mowbray and his replacement, Mick Beale.
Although Mundle appears to be a long-term addition, their season’s results could not be much affected by his arrival.
Mundle signed a transfer agreement with the Black Cats in January.
After spending just six months in Europe, former Tottenham Hotspur winger Mundle ended his stay in Belgium when he signed a transfer deadline day deal with Sunderland.
Spurs extended an offer to the forward in the summer, but he turned it down and joined Standard Liege. He would have liked to play football for the first team for the first time, but he had trouble making time on the field.
Even though Mundle only played 146 minutes for the Belgian team, he caught Sunderland’s attention and was signed on February 1st to a long-term deal that will keep him at the Stadium of Light until 2028.
Although he probably won’t be expected to start for the Black Cats right away, the four and a half-year contract offers him time to develop as a player in the hopes of eventually being an important member of Sunderland’s squad.
In a few years, he might be Clarke’s replacement.
Mundle has the potential to be Sunderland’s next Clarke, even though he’s not quite ready to take on the full load just yet.
The forward had an incredible first half of the season, and there was a lot of reported interest in him this winter. The 23-year-old Englishman has been linked to teams like West Ham and Lazio, with a reported sum of £20 million needed to get his signature.
Mundle and Clarke are similar in that they were both in the Spurs youth system before departing when it became apparent they would not be able to make the first team.
After turning down a new deal with Spurs, Mundle left the team last year and joined Standard Liege. Even though he didn’t play much and didn’t score or assist for the team, the Sunderland recruitment team was impressed by his performances.
Although the 20-year-old hasn’t exactly made an impression at the senior level, the expectation is that he can make himself at home at the Stadium of Light and develop into a capable long-term successor for Clarke should he decide to go on.
He is a quick and deft winger who can play on either flank just as well. He can cut inside and shoot at ease. The 20-year-old’s main criticism, though, is that he has only made seven senior appearances in his career, which is a lack of playing time.
As a result, Sunderland will be grateful that a player of his caliber has emerged to take Clarke’s spot as one of the Championship’s best, and they cannot count on him to step in right away.
The Black Cats saw Mundle as a long-term answer since at the beginning of February, he signed a four and a half year contract.
Given that Clarke is headed for greater things, the club can give him more time to adjust to the system by considering a long-term replacement now rather than pressing him into the position before he is ready.
Although it’s unclear if the former Spurs player can match the Sunderland talisman’s quality of play, he was well-liked in North London before to his departure and is still young enough to develop into a vital member of the Championship team.
He might need some time to adjust to Sunderland, but in a few years, we might be talking about him in the same way that we are talking about Clarke right now.
