Jack Clarke sends West Ham United and Sunderland transfer message with what he did yesterday
Jack Clarke’s goal celebration for Sunderland against Ipswich over the weekend has been interpreted as an indication he is not looking to leave for West Ham by the Sunderland Echo.
The North-East outlet reported via their website on 14 January that the Black Cats wide man ran to the touchline to celebrate with teammates after netting in the 2-1 defeat the day before, “leaping into a hug with substitute Hemir Semedo”.
That is seen as not “the type of performance you’d expect from a player pushing for a move away”, with the Hammers and other Premier League sides believed to be after the 23-year-old.
With Michail Antonio injured along with Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta, while Mohammed Kudus is currently away at the Africa Cup of Nations, it has left David Moyes forced to rely on exit-linked back-up options in attack, yet a pursuit of Sunderland’s top scorer has been tipped to be difficult.
Off limits?
If Moyes could land another goalscoring winging to match the exploits of Bowen and help overcome the dearth of options up front it would provide a timely boost to the club’s chances of capitalising on what has turned out to be a reasonably strong first half of the season.
But with the budget not leaving a huge amount of room for manoeuvre this month without significant exits the chances of Clarke being the man to fill that requirement look slim.
Sunderland are sure to be loath to let him leave midseason without a hefty offer coming in from the London Stadium, and if the man with 13 league goals isn’t intent on leaving it won’t help either.
Despite some notably poor results this term West Ham have come into the New Year comfortably inside the European places, despite having little to speak of up front after Antonio’s fitness and form issues on top of the failure to replace Gianluca Scamacca in the summer.
Bowen has been absolutely crucial but is now out for what could be a number of weeks [Premier Injuries] so help going forward this month looks vital.
But Moyes and Tim Steidten seemingly will need to look elsewhere if they are going to find it, with Clarke potentially an option for the summer.
In other West Ham news, the club have made a transfer decision on “one of the best strikers in the world” amid an eight-figure update.