Burnley: Imagine “unreal” Jack Clarke and Benson
Nobody assisted more goals in the Championship last season than Sunderland’s Jack Clarke, who could be on his way to the Premier League with Burnley.
Burnley announced their ninth signing of the summer on Thursday with the addition of Jacob Bruun Larsen, but Vincent Kompany still has time to make it double figures in terms of arrivals in time for the start of the Premier League season.
Who have Burnley signed?
Danish winger Larsen joined from Bundesliga side Hoffenheim on a season-long loan, meaning a reunion with Kompany after spending time together at Anderlecht in 2020-21.
Larsen follows in the steps of Zeki Amdouni, James Trafford, Dara O’Shea, Luca Koleosho, Nathan Redmond and young goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux in joining Burnley this summer, while Jordan Beyer and Michael Obafemi have been signed on permanent deals after starring on loan last season.
The Clarets’ move for Larsen comes amid ongoing speculation that they are looking to sign fellow attacking midfielder Jack Clarke from Championship side Sunderland.
According to The Northern Echo, Burnley’s latest bid of £10m plus various add-ons has been rejected by Sunderland, but the Black Cats would be willing to sell if offered £15m.
What position does Jack Clarke play?
Sunderland snapped up Clarke from Tottenham Hotspur on a permanent deal 12 months ago after he impressed during a spell on loan in League One.
The 22-year-old was one of the best players in the Championship last season, as he scored nine goals and set up a further 12 goals in 47 appearances for the Black Cats.
Those 12 assists were a joint-high among players in the Championship, level with former Coventry City star Viktor Gyokeres, who has earned a big move away this summer to Sporting CP.
Clarke’s 0.48 goals or assists per 90 minutes in the regular season, as per FBref, was better than that of Burnley regulars Johann Berg Gudmundsson (0.46) and Josh Brownhill (0.38) last season, while Anass Zaroury (0.50) only fared marginally better.
That goes some way to showing that Clarke has the quality to be part of Burnley’s squad, and his arrival could be particularly good news for Burnley’s centre-forwards.
The former England U20 international played mainly on the left-hand side last season, which is likely where he would fit in at Burnley should he indeed sign, on the opposite flank to Manuel Benson.
Benson scored and assisted a combined 14 goals last season – only Brownhill (15) could better than among Clarets players still at the club – as he played an integral part in the Lancashire side’s dominant title win.
Having Benson on one flank and Clarke on the other would give many Premier League defenders a torrid time next season, especially when you factor in that the Sunderland ace was level with creative force Brownhill last season for shot-creating actions (147).
That metric takes factors such as passes and take-ons directly leading to a shot into account and gives a strong indication of the danger Clarke can cause in the final third.
Labelled an “unreal” player by football reporter Josh Bunting, Clarke – as is the case with many Burnley players – showed last season that he is ready to make the leap from the Championship to the Premier League.
If that is not with Kompany’s Burnley, then it is surely just a matter of time before another club pounces.
