Jack Clarke reaction misses bigger Sheffield United transfer point as Blades learn from painful lessons
News of Sheffield United’s retained interest in Jack Clarke sparked scepticism amongst Unitedites today. But more broadly, it shows the calibre of player the Blades are looking at this summer, writes Danny Hall.
Amongst all the sceptical responses to our story this morning revealing that Jack Clarke, the Ipswich Town winger, remains a target of Sheffield United, there was something of a gem from Twitter user ChrisTavz. “More chance,” he wrote, “of tying a knot in a fart.”
The delivery was unorthodox but the sentiment was widely shared. Why, many wondered in both Sheffield and Suffolk, would Ipswich sell one of their key players, in a promoted team, to a team in the league below? And how would United afford him?
The answer is probably simple; they wouldn’t, and they can’t. Luckily for United, and other clubs in the second tier, there is the option of the loan market and should Clarke be made available in the summer, to put it simply, then United would be interested.
There is no suggestion that Clarke is definitely going to walk through the Bramall Lane entrance door this summer. Interest so often in football fades away into nothing, and in this particular instance it is Ipswich who hold all the cards.
But, more broadly, Clarke is one of a number of players who fit the profile of player that United are in the market for this summer. They have learned the lessons of last summer, gambling on players who did not have the required tools to perform in the Championship.
United will use the loan market again, but rather than players such as Louie Barry - who, through no fault of his own, lacked the experience and physicality to cope in the second tier at this stage of his career - they are looking at the next step up.
Think Clarke. Think Lewis Dobbin, as we revealed the day after he tormented United at Bramall Lane on loan for Preston North End. Think any other of myriad wingers at Premier League clubs who have been down the stretch in the Championship and know what it takes to cope.
That was one of United’s big issues last season. Eight players represented them on loan and you can probably make a case that one, if there was another game tomorrow, would be missed. And even Tyler Bindon came out of the team before his season was curtailed through injury.
It doesn’t bear thinking about how much United wasted in wages and loan fees in the summer, and they can’t afford to pour more money down the drain this time around. The focus simply has to be quality over quantity.
Incidentally there were also a few online wags wondering if Jack Clarke had been mixed up with his namesake at Portman Road, Harry. Not the case; although the former Blades loan right-back could emerge as a target for the Blades should he, as expected, be released this summer when his contract runs out.
United, as we reported recently, are interested in bringing Kyle Walker back to Bramall Lane if a deal can be struck that works for all parties, but nothing has particularly moved on that front as of yet.
As things stand Femi Seriki is once again the Blades’ only senior right-back while the departures of Leo Hjelde and Ben Mee, who has announced his retirement after leaving the Lane, has created the urgent need for more centre-halves even if Mark McGuinness does remain at Bramall Lane when the transfer window shuts.