Tony Mowbray insists Jack Clarke 'loves playing' at Sunderland and is 'in no rush' to leave despite Burnley's pursuit of the winger. Clarke is understood to have been the subject of multiple bids from Vincent Kompany's Clarets, who won promotion to the Premier League last season.
So far, Sunderland have knocked back the interest in the 22-year-old former Spurs man, and head coach Mowbray hopes he will remain on Wearside. "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," said Mowbray.
"He's not stamping his feet or being petulant or creating a problem in training. He's working hard and enjoys his football."
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Clarke shone in Sunderland's first pre-season outing at National League North side South Shields yesterday, scoring twice in a 4-3 win and also hitting the woodwork on a couple of occasions. Mowbray said: "First of all I thought he played extraordinarily well.
"He hit the woodwork 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 Clarkes that just make a difference in football matches. We need individual talent.
"Last year we had [on-loan Manchester United forward] 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."
