The Black Cats’ star player was linked with a move away from Wearside in the January transfer window, but he is still focused on the club’s promotion campaign.
Jack Clarke stated that he is very content at Sunderland and that the speculation about his future has had no effect on his performance.
The 23-year-old winger contributed significantly to the Black Cats’ draw at Middlesbrough on Sunday, and all of the transfer rumors from last month, including alleged approaches from Lazio, have been put to rest.
“Honestly, I’m glad I’m still here,” he told Sky Sports. “I enjoy wearing the Sunderland shirt and for me, the stuff being said on the outside doesn’t seem to bother me, as long as I’m coming in every day and wearing a Sunderland shirt I’m happy.”
Clarke commented on the Middlesbrough victory: “After they scored, we didn’t have much to lose, so we committed more bodies forward, and the game just opened up.” People were getting fatigued, and the yards were a little harder on the legs. We knew it will open up soon; we just didn’t want to be one goal down at that time. We’ll take the draw, but we’re not satisfied with it.”
Regarding Nazariy Rusyn’s goal, he said, “I believed he had rolled it around the back of the goal, but all the spectators were cheering, and it took me a minute to comprehend what was going on. He deserved the goal. He’s been working extremely hard, and hopefully he can carry that into the rest of the season.”
Jobi McAnuff of Sky Sports complimented on Clarke’s role to the club this season, saying: “He’s been absolutely outstanding, truly their ‘go to’ player in terms of creating opportunities, scoring, or assisting. I believe there has been a lot of discussion about what they [Sunderland] did not bring in, but if they had kept him, as well as Dan Neil, I am sure there would have been a lot of attention and offers. I believe that if they were to have a chance of making the playoffs, they needed to keep him. They have done so, and we have seen the impact he has on games throughout the season. “He has been brilliant.”
