'Sunderland is the right club for Jack Clarke,' says Michael Beale

Michael Beale says Sunderland is the ‘right club’ for Jack Clarke as he responded to comments from the player’s agent Ian Harte.

Harte, a former Sunderland player, appeared on the Tippy Tappy Football Podcast this week and said that Clarke would ‘hopefully’ get a move away from Wearside this summer.

That didn’t go down well with supporters, especially given Harte has also previously tweeted complaining about Sunderland turning down an offer for the winger.

Beale is relaxed about the whole thing, though, and thinks the whole situation is a ‘win-win’ for Sunderland whichever way it goes.

"At this moment in time the window is, Jack is here, he's our player, he looks happy to me,” Beale said. “Let's just focus on that.

“Someone has got to pay the money and it has to be the right club for Jack. At this moment, this is the right club for Jack.

“He's a fantastic footballer and he loves playing football so I don't even need to say anything to Jack - whatever he wants to achieve, ideally here, then he has to play well.

"So I'm in a win-win, the boy has to play well. He's playing well, he loves playing for our club and we do a lot to allow Jack to be Jack in terms of our style and the allowances we make for him defensively so that he can be a matchwinner.

“He's been absolutely superb and any outside noise is nothing new, he's had it since he was 17 really. He's still young but he's got a lot of experience, he's had the big move and a couple of loans where it hasn't gone so well.

“He's found a home in football so I'd say he's very content. Nothing can happen between now and the summer, and I'm sure the noise will get louder."

The ‘noise’ this week came from Harte. Beale said he had not heard Harte’s comments, although he didn’t necessarily mind them either.

" Listen, agents have got a job to do and an agent represents Jack,” he said. “It's important that he represents Jack in the right way and I'm sure Jack feels he does.

“Jack has already reiterated that he's extremely happy here just last week, so this is going to be an ongoing saga I think until the summer."

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