Sunderland could now look to ‘fabulous’ 24-year-old as Jack Clarke replacement
A pundit has claimed that Sunderland ‘will be looking at’ signing a 24-year-old winger as Jack Clarke’s replacement.
Sunderland are just months away from potentially losing Jack Clarke, with the attacker making a name for himself in the Championship over the past two seasons.
The 23-year-old has racked up 24 goals and 16 assists in 80 games for the Black Cats since they won promotion in 2022, and his excellent form has attracted the attention of a number of clubs in the Premier League.
Despite having two years left on his contract, Clarke is fully expected to leave Wearside this summer, with their only hope of keeping him likely to have been their own promotion to the top flight.
With that certainly not happening after six successive defeats, Sunderland will now have to consider their options in replacing their star man – hopefully with the £20 million plus they make from his exit.
While there has been very little gossip regarding Clarke’s replacement, pundit Carlton Palmer has tipped the Championship outfit to go in for West Brom loanee Mikey Johnston.
Speaking to Football League World, Palmer said: ““Mikey Johnston has continued his flying time at West Brom since he joined on loan in the January transfer window. He’s had a fantastic time since joining from Celtic.
“Yes, a lot of clubs will be taking note of the way that he’s playing, so you will be looking at clubs who will be looking at players moving on, Jack Clarke will be moving on, [Jon] Rowe will be moving on, and people will be looking at Mikey Johnston as a possible replacement.
“But he’s having a fabulous time at West Brom, and he’s enjoying his football there.
“But certainly, Norwich and Sunderland, and other prospective Championship clubs will be monitoring the situation given his outstanding form for West Bromwich Albion.
“With Sunderland’s policy of trying to buy young players, and get them in cheap, I don’t think Johnston will fall into that because I think Celtic will be looking at least £2m or £3m given his form in the Championship.
“So whether Sunderland have the money to pay that, Norwich do have the money to pay for Mikey Johnston, so we’ll have to see come the end of the season, but he’s certainly done great things at West Brom and [is] attracting a lot of attention.”
Who is Mikey Johnston?
Mikey Johnston has been at Celtic since 2008, but has struggled with numerous injuries during his time with the senior team.
Having struggled to establish a regular place in their starting line-up, Johnston went onto score once and bag four assists whilst on loan with Vitoria Guimaraes last season.
He has found a lot more success at West Brom though, netting six goals and providing one assist in only nine games.
The Republic of Ireland international has been key to the Baggies’ push for promotion, and Celtic could take advantage of his impressive form by making some cash from his departure this summer.
If Johnston can keep up his form next season, then he could certainly be a very solid addition to Sunderland’s frontline.
Palmer questions whether we could afford the attacker, but £3 million certainly seems affordable if we were to make around eight-times that amount from Jack Clarke.
Of course, it would take a lot for him to fill Clarke’s boots, but our current star man wasn’t all that when he joined us and look what happened to him.
The Black Cats could certainly face a lot of competition though, and he could well favour a permanent move to West Brom.
As long as we do actually pursue a replacement for Jack Clarke though, rather than just slotting Romaine Mundle into the left side and hoping nobody notices the difference.
