What 'extraordinary' Jack Clarke told Tony Mowbray about his Sunderland future amid Burnley interest

Tony Mowbray says Jack Clarke is loving life at Sunderland but knows that there are no guarantees he will remain at the club beyond the end of the transfer window.

Premier League side Burnley have had a number of bids rejected for the 22-year-old this summer, and Sunderland are in a strong position as the winger still has three years left to run on his contract.

Clarke returned to Sunderland action at South Shields on Saturday, scoring twice and hitting the woodwork with two long-range efforts as the Black Cats secured a 4-3 win.

Mowbray knows Clarke would be an invaluable asset in his squad and says the youngster is fully focused on the challenge ahead.

Until Burnley return with a significantly improved offer, if indeed they do, he is a major string in Mowbray's bow.

"First of all I thought today he played extraordinarily well," Clarke said.

"He hit the bar two or three times, he scored two goals.

"The talent is obviously there. When you look on a football pitch that has a lot of young players on it, it's the Patrick Roberts' and Jack Clarke's that just make a difference in football matches. We need individual talent. Last year we had Amad to help with that.

"As we did with the team last year, we kept the team pretty solid, were brave in possession and got it to the front players, who could damage the opposition. Jack Clarke can obviously do that in this division.

"I think 11 goals and 13 assists last year, it's a real improvement for him and the test for us would be to get more from him this year.

"My conversation with him - and again, I don't get overly involved with what goes on behind the scenes. He said to me he loves playing here, he's in no rush to leave but if that's what pans out, he's a footballer, if he moves he moves.

"He's not stamping his feet or being petulant or creating a problem in training. He's working hard and enjoys his football."

Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman insisted earlier this season that the club was under no pressure to sell, telling The Athletic: "We have to be clear here: the model is to create a team that can get promoted.

“The by-product of that is having good players and, if you don’t get promoted, some players will go past you. They are Premier League-ready and the team won’t be. Likewise, if you progress, there’ll be players who won’t keep pace.

“In terms of our squad composition, we want to be in a position where other clubs think our players would be assets for them.

"That would put Sunderland in a strong position. In terms of how robust we can be in retaining players, if the question is: ‘are we going let players leave on the cheap?’, the answer is no.”

Clarke will be with the team as they head out on their pre-season tour of the US next week.