JACK CLARKE’S departure has obviously created a void in Sunderland’s squad, but the winger’s old teammates were always convinced Romaine Mundle could step in to replace it.
Clarke finally joined Ipswich Town this month, after a long drama in which the 23-year-old was linked with a transfer away from Wearside.
After turning down earlier bids, the Sunderland management chose to cash in this summer, partially because Clarke was in the final two years of his contract and was unlikely to retain his value. However, the presence of Mundle, another left winger who had moved to Wearside from Standard Liege at the beginning of February, influenced their decision.
With Clarke ahead of him in the pecking order, Mundle made only five senior starts in the second half of last season, but when his fellow wide-man left last month, he was moved to Regis Le Bris’ starting lineup for the home game against Burnley.
He scored the winner for Sunderland against the Clarets and has since added goals against Portsmouth and Plymouth.
His three goals make him the Championship’s joint-fifth highest scorer, and while no one is claiming he is a like-for-like replacement for Clarke just yet, his Sunderland teammate, Dan Neil, was impressed enough with his pre-season performances to believe he could at least partially fill the void.
“Romaine has been brilliant,” added Neil, who received the captain’s armband earlier this summer. “It was difficult for him when he first arrived since Jack was the main man, but I believe he has been one of the greatest players in the squad, particularly during training.
“Jack has gone to the Premier League, and we’re all excited for him; he earned the opportunity to step up. That has given Romaine the opportunity to come up and try to fill those shoes, and I believe he could have sank or swam, but he has clearly swam. He’s developing from game to game; he’s been terrific thus far, and long may it continue.”
While Clarke’s departure dominated the news in the final stages of the summer transfer window, Sunderland were busy making their own recruits.
Salis Abdul Samed, who is about a week away from returning to action after a minor setback, Wilson Isidor, who made his second substitute appearance against Plymouth at the weekend, and Milan Aleksic, who was an unused substitute at Home Park, have all joined the club’s midfield.
All three will be hoping to earn a first-team position in the coming weeks, with Neil embracing the increased competition in his part of the pitch. Sunderland also have Alan Browne, Jobe Bellingham, and Chris Rigg in central midfield, as well as Patrick Roberts and Ian Poveda, who will try to play out wide.
“I think we’ve got five good players in (central) midfield now, six including Milan,” according to Neil. “I believe that competition is quite beneficial; we may be used in a variety of locations of the pitch, which is the beauty of the possibilities we currently have.
“We may all play as sitters or eights; the coach has several possibilities. We all know we’ll have to fight to keep the shirt, and I believe such competitiveness is beneficial to the squad.”
Some of Sunderland’s peripheral players are expected to play for the Under-21s in this evening’s Premier League International Cup match against Borussia Monchengladbach at Eppleton.
The Black Cats are expected to have a similar lineup to the one that drew 2-2 with Atletico Madrid last week, which included Poveda, Nazariy Rusyn, Jewison Benette, and striker Tommy Watson.
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