Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has said that he can’t say for sure whether the likes of Jack Clarke and Jobe Bellingham will be at the club come the end of August.
One of the biggest tasks that Sunderland’s new head coach will face, in the short time that he has between now and the end of the window to build a competitive team, is holding onto some of the players that are going to give themselves the best chance of being up at the higher end of the league.
The interest from Premier League sides, and other top European leagues, in the likes of Clarke, Bellingham and others is well known.
The Black Cats are reported to have turned down at least one official bid from Brentford for the latter, as per the Northern Echo. They had to fend off interest in the winter from Italian side Lazio for their star winger too.
That keen eye for these young prospects isn’t likely to move on over the summer, and the 49-year-old boss is well aware of the test that they are going to face.
Regis Le Bris on chances of keeping Jack Clarke and Jobe Bellingham
Le Bris has admitted that there is a chance that some of Sunderland’s best players will leave the Stadium of Light in this summer window, but he’s confident that they will have a good team come the end of August.
“It’s difficult to have guarantees because the market can be crazy sometimes, but I feel the ambition,” said the Frenchman, via the Echo.
“Obviously the market and transfer window will not be as we’d expect it just now but we will adapt with the circumstances and at the end I think we’ll have a balanced team with players who are able to play our style of play and to perform on the pitch.”
On Clarke specifically, he added: “We like good players – the players who are able to dribble, attack the box, score and give the last key passes. They are very important for the team.
“He is an important player – other players are very important for the team also. If we are able to keep the core of this team, I think it will be very helpful to enable us to perform quickly, with one, two or three players more. He is very important, as are all the players.”
Sunderland have already had a couple of players walk out the door this summer. Goalkeepers Nathan Bishop and Alex Bass have joined Wycombe Wanderers and Notts County on season-long loans, respectively.
Their number one, Anthony Patterson, like the aforementioned midfield pairing, has attracted the attention of clubs above the Black Cats’ level. The Academy of Light graduate isn’t expected to leave the club, but there has been reported interest from the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal.
Sunderland may need to cut their losses with Jack Clarke
Thankfully, for the club, they are in a position of relative power over the winger. He has turned down opportunities to sign a new deal with Sunderland over the past year, but his current deal doesn’t end until the summer of 2026.
At the start of the 2023/24 campaign, he was probably at his most valuable, and, unless he rekindles that form under Le Bris, the likelihood is that his price is going to slowly decrease over time.
They won’t end up with a less than eight-figure fee if they hold on to him this summer, but there is a chance that the willing buyers may start to reduce their offerings as time goes on, and Sunderland could miss out on a big payday.
