Player Leeds United sold for £8.5m flourishing at Championship rivals now

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One of Leeds United’s main challengers for promotion to the Premier League are Sunderland.

Like Leeds, Sunderland are a massive club with a strong fanbase. And, like the West Yorkshire outfit, the Black Cats have been in the Premier League before.

Leeds are third in the Championship table with 31 points from 16 matches. Sunderland are sixth with 26 points from 16 games.

Jack Clarke’s initial struggles after Leeds United departure

One of Sunderland’s best players this season has been Jack Clarke, a player Leeds sold for an initial £8.5 million (Sky Sports).

Clarke joined Tottenham Hotspur from Leeds on a permanent basis in the summer of 2019 before going back to Elland Road on loan for 2019-20 season.

The winger could not carve out a place in the Leeds starting lineup under then head coach Marcelo Bielsa and terminated his loan spell early.

Subsequent loan spells at Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City did not go well before Clarke landed at Sunderland in January 2022.

Jack Clarke doing well at Sunderland

And, he has been starring for the Black Cats ever since, flourishing at the Stadium of Light and has now become a goal machine.

The 22-year-old scored one goal and gave three assists in 11 League One during his loan spell at Sunderland. The Black Cats won promotion to the Championship. 

The forward scored nine goals and gave 12 assists in 46 Championship starts last season. Sunderland reached the playoffs.

So far this season, Clarke has scored nine goals and given one assist in 16 Championship matches for Tony Mowbray’s side.

What is remarkable about Clarke is that he is scoring so many goals despite starting matches as a left winger.

Sammie Szmodics of Blackburn Rovers has scored 10 goals in the Championship this season, while Southampton star Adam Armstrong has nine.

Clarke is only 22 now and there is more to come from him. While he is playing for Leeds’s rivals Sunderland, it is good to see a former club academy graduate starting to succeed.