WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 14: Jack Clarke of Ipswich Town during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and Ipswich Town FC at Molineux on December 14, 2024 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Ipswich Town sent clear transfer demand on Jack Clarke – He could command “at least £30-40m”
Jack Clarke will be looking to reignite the second-tier spark that burned so brightly at Sunderland with Ipswich Town in the 2025/26 Championship campaign after enduring a difficult debut season as the Tractor Boys suffered relegation from the Premier League.
Clarke arrived at Ipswich Town as one of a series of high-profile recruits from the Championship in the wake of Ipswich’s remarkable second successive promotion under Kieran McKenna.
The winger joined off the back of two seriously impressive campaigns in the Championship with Sunderland following his permanent move from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2022, which saw him return 27 goals and 18 assists from 94 appearances.
His 15-goal haul in Sunderland’s disappointing 2023/24 campaign was enough to convince Ipswich to part with an initial £15 million sum, alongside a further £5 million in add-ons, to secure his signature down to a five-year contract. However, the Tractor Boys were relegated with a whimper and Clarke was reduced to a limited role, starting just 12 of his 32 league matches across a spread of 1,170 minutes while posting four assists and failing to score a single top-flight goal.
It will be hoped, though, that the tricky wide-man can showcase his previous Championship form next time out to guide Town towards a swift return to the Premier League.
Ipswich Town backed to retain Jack Clarke amid £30-40m transfer valuation claim
Clarke was a hot property when Ipswich won the race for his services last summer, and there is little denying that his stock will have fallen somewhat following a difficult season in the top-flight.
There has, however, been reported interest from Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, while some Sunderland fans have urged the club to consider a return for the former Stadium of Light favourite upon their recent promotion to the promised land.
FLW decided to ask our resident Ipswich fan pundit, Adam Wilkin, if he believes Clarke will stay or leave this summer, and to explain what sort of price he expects the club to demand if the 25-year-old is to depart Suffolk.
In Adam’s view, a return to Sunderland is unlikely considering the recent track record of newly-promoted clubs suffering relegation straight back down from the Premier League.
He has also argued that Ipswich will not intend on sanctioning any sort of sale which would represent a loss on the figure they shelled out to the Black Cats only last August, and that the state of inflation in today’s transfer market may see the Tractor Boys value Clarke in the somewhat-staggering region of “£30-40 million”.
“I’m certain that Jack Clarke will still be an Ipswich Town player at the end of the summer,” Adam told FLW.
“The only real links I’ve seen to Premier League clubs are to his old club Sunderland. I understand why those links are there, but to leave them for the Premier League, get relegated with Ipswich to go back while they’re in the Premier League and, given the record of newly-promoted teams not being able to stay up, to then go back down and Ipswich could go up the other way, I think he’s probably at a point now where he’s been able to get used to the system and know his role in the side.
“He will feel that, going into next season, he can have a very good season, hopefully with a stronger side than Sunderland’s when he was there and with one very much built for the future and ready to go back up and have a more successful go at staying in the Premier League.
“So I’m pretty sure he’ll still be an Ipswich player. The price point is another reason why I think he’ll stay, we signed him for £15 million plus £5 million in add-ons which means, again, if a newly-promoted side or any other club was to buy him, it would have to be for £20 million plus.
“Given that there’s no reported release clause or anything like that, I can’t see Ipswich being forced to sell for a low price. They probably value him at at least £30-40 million maybe; some of the prices are crazy, you look at Tyler Dibling and Southampton’s valuation of him because they don’t want to sell.
“That means he could easily be worth that amount of money if teams were desperate for him.”
Ipswich Town should not cash in on Jack Clarke just yet
Although much more would have been desired from Clarke’s opening campaign in Ipswich colours, there is the caveat that McKenna did not trust him all that much and that little more could have been provided from limited minutes.
At times, it also appeared as though Clarke was struggling to adapt to the Northern Irishman’s shape too, but, as Adam notes, he has now had a full season to acclimate to the style of play and will be tipped to deliver the goods in a division he has previously stormed next time out – though McKenna himself could depart amid interest from Brentford as Thomas Frank closes in on a switch to Spurs.
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