Sunderland’s fine form continued in the week as they beat Blackburn, with Jack Clarke once again starring for Tony Mowbray’s side.
Jack Clarke finds his best form after summer speculation
It was a difficult summer for Clarke, who was the subject of Premier League interest, with Burnley pushing hardest to sign the winger.
However, the Black Cats resisted offers for the 22-year-old, and it’s turned out to be a great decision, as Clarke has been superb this season.
He scored a wonderful solo effort to go with a penalty at Ewood Park, to make it five in seven games.
As well as the goalscoring contribution, Clarke is a constant threat with his pace and dribbling ability down the left flank.
Naturally, that has prompted some debate among supporters over who is the best left-winger in the Championship, with a lot of players in the mix.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sunderland fan pundit Jack believes the former Spurs winger is the best, although he did name some others in the Championship who run Clarke close.
“I don’t watch every other Championship winger as consistently as I watch Jack Clarke. I think on form it’s hard to argue there is anyone better. You could look at McAteer and Mavididi at Leicester, who are playing well and will probably win the league.
“On form, it’s hard to argue Clarke isn’t the best though. As an actual winger, you’ve got Wilfried Gnonto, who is in the Italian national team, and he was very good in the Premier League last season. So, you could argue he is a better winger, and at Southampton you have Kamaldeen Sulemana and Sam Edozie, who are really talented players. But, this season they have not been better than Clarke so far.
“I think you could argue on current form that he is, or there’s not many better than him at all.”
Who is the best winger in the Championship?
Obviously, this is subjective, and each fan will have a bias about their own players. However, most would agree that Clarke has to be in the frame when you look at the best wingers in the league, along with the likes of Gnonto, Sulemana and Edozie when they’re at their best.
Quite simply, Clarke’s numbers put him into the conversation with anyone though, as he has scored five times already this season, to go with nine goals and 12 assists from the previous campaign.
That’s why there was so much interest in Clarke in the summer, and the Wearside outfit did very well to keep the player at the Stadium of Light.
What next for Sunderland?
The window shutting ended any speculation about Clarke, and it’s allowed him to focus on his football.
Mowbray’s side endured a slow start, but they’re clicking into gear now, producing the fast, exciting football that meant they reached the play-offs last season.
It’s a young squad, so there will be ups and downs over the coming weeks and months, but promotion is going to be the aim for Sunderland this season.
They are back in action on Sunday when they host Cardiff City.