Southampton 'ready to table £15m bid for former Spurs star if they get promoted'

Sunderland are hoping to win the race to sign Sunderland star Jack Clarke in the summer.

Clarke has impressed in the Championship this season, netting 15 goals and notching four assists in 33 league appearances so far.

He has been a key man for Sunderland, scoring against Birmingham on Saturday, and would reportedly be keen to have another crack at Premier League football after a difficult time at Tottenham.

That would involve leaving the Black Cats if they don’t achieve promotion this term, with Michael Beale’s side currently 10th in the league table and four points off the play-off spots.

According to The Sun, automatic promotion hopefuls Southampton are ready to table a £15million bid for Clarke in a bid to lure him to the south coast.

Clarke, then 18, joined Tottenham for a fee in the region of £10m in 2019 from Leeds, who had just lost in the Championship play-offs in their bid to reach the Premier League.

Things didn’t work out in North London, however, and he left for Sunderland permanently in July 2022 having failed to make a league appearance in three years with Spurs.

During his time with the club, he spent time on loan at QPR, Stoke, Sunderland and back at Leeds before making the move to the Stadium of Light permanent.

Southampton have high hopes of making an immediate return to the Premier League under Russell Martin following last year’s relegation.

The Saints are currently third in the Championship table, two points behind second-place Ipswich and the final automatic promotion place with a game in hand.

It is reported that a number of current Premier League sides are also chasing Clarke, with West Ham linked with a January bid that never materialised.

Brentford and Crystal Palace are also big admirers of the former