A Championship director has played down their interest in a reported Sunderland transfer target.
Sunderland are yet to receive any offers for Jack Clarke since the transfer window opened last week, but many fans are expecting him to leave the club.
The winger has bagged 24 goals and 16 assists since the Black Cats were promoted and has since received plenty of interest from the Premier League.
The likes of Burnley, Bournemouth and West Ham linked with his signature last season, while Lazio also saw bids rejected in January.
Having finished 16th in the Championship, it would come as no surprise to see Sunderland earn an eight-figure fee from his departure this summer.
The club have already been searching for potential replacements and have been linked with a move for Basel attacker Liam Millar.
The Canadian spent last season on loan at Preston North End, netting five goals and providing five assists in 35 matches.
Sunderland were expected to face competition from Burnley, Sheffield United and Preston for the signing, though it appears that the latter now look unlikely to re-sign him.
Liam Millar is no longer Preston’s ‘number one’ target
The Lilywhites’ director, Peter Risdale, has admitted that Millar’s demand to play as a winger rather than a wing-back has pushed him further down their shortlist.
Speaking to the Lancashire Evening Post, Risdale said: “We are not really far down the line with Liam anyway.
“Liam has been very honest with us, saying he loves the club and will come back tomorrow, but wants to play left wing. And we have said we love him and want him back tomorrow, but we want him to play left wing-back – so there is not a meeting of the minds, necessarily. If he returned from holiday and said he wanted to come back, then there might be a deal to be done.
“But, he is not currently number one on the list we’ve got. Everybody asks for a fee to start with. Do I think we could do a deal if Liam said he only wants to go to Preston? Yes, I do. He has only got a year left. Whilst the number started off at a big number, I don’t think it would end up at the same number if Liam said he wanted to join us. That’s not the issue at the moment.
“To be fair to Liam, he has been very honest with us. The issue is that he aspires to play in a position we don’t naturally start with, most weeks.”
Would the winger be a suitable replacement for Jack Clarke?
Liam Millar’s goal contribution record for Preston wasn’t anything to shout about, however he was deployed as a left wing-back for a majority of the campaign.
Having played out of position, the 24-year-old did really impress at Deepdale and became a fan favourite in his time there.
The winger had the most shots in the squad (60), the most successful dribbles (72), the third-most key passes (33) and blocked the second-most crosses (10).
While his season was far from the level that Clarke enjoyed, given the chance to play in his natural position and he could prove to be a real threat for Sunderland.