Journalist tells Jim White what he’s heard about West Ham United pursuit of Jack Clarke
Sunderland star Jack Clarke is definitely a player of interest to West Ham in the January transfer window, according to Alex Crook.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Wednesday (10 January, 11:26am), the journalist said the Hammers are “looking to do business” this month as the injury sustained by Jarrod Bowen against Bristol City is set to keep him out for a few weeks.
Responding to the Hammers’ interest in the 23-year-old Clarke, host White revealed that the winger played well when he saw him play previously, with pundit Danny Murphy adding that he also “liked him” following his performances for the Black Cats in the Championship.
“Jarrod Bowen’s ankle injury is going to keep him out for a few weeks, so they are looking to do some business in this window,” said Crook.
“Jack Clarke, young player who’s scored a lot of goals for Sunderland, probably didn’t perform to the best of his capabilities in that cup defeat against Newcastle at the weekend, but then nobody in a Sunderland shirt did.
“He’s definitely a player of interest for West Ham and he fits the mould doesn’t he, a player from the EFL, they’ve been down that route before.”
“You saw Clarke play for Sunderland, didn’t you?” asked White.
“I liked him, yeah,” said Murphy.
“I saw him play at Millwall and he did more than well that day,” added White.
Need reinforcements
It definitely looked like West Ham needed attacking reinforcements heading into the January transfer window, but now that is almost certainly the case.
With Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Michail Antonio all set to be sidelined for the next few weeks and Mohammed Kudus joining the Ghana squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, the Hammers’ forward options have been decimated.
Clarke would go some way towards easing those problems after he’s been a standout player for Sunderland over the past couple of seasons, having scored 12 goals in 26 Championship appearances during this campaign.
Although the former Tottenham winger didn’t quite cut it in North London, he was barely given a chance after playing just four games for the club.
The Englishman is likely to be desperate for another crack at the Premier League and his home-grown status is believed to be appealing to the Irons as they look to add to their quota in that department this month.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers could be set to make an approach for an “unbelievable” forward as his club are now open to a sale.