Wolves may have just found their Pedro Neto replacement after they were linked with a new £30 million transfer target.
Wolves’ transfer window is heating up. The club have already made their first signing of the summer after Rodrigo Gomes joined the Old Gold.
Pedro Lima also looks set to join Wolves in the coming weeks after a bid was accepted.
Yet, one linked player that could transform their 2024/25 campaign is Sunderland’s Jack Clarke.
Clarke has recently been linked to Wolves in a £30 million summer move. Gary O’Neil’s side are desperate for more attackers due to their poor squad depth.
In this article, Molineux News analyses Clarke to see what he could add to the side and if he could eventually replace Neto.
Sunderland’s Jack Clarke has shone in the Championship
Throughout the 2023/24 campaign, Sunderland mainly relied on one man, Clarke. The winger was easily the Black Cats’ best player and was the main reason that they were fighting for the playoffs until their collapse in 2024.
The 23-year-old had his best season at the Stadium of Light since his transfer from Tottenham in 2022. In total, he netted 15 times and collected four assists through the campaign. However, those stats are merely the tip of the iceberg.
According to Fbref, he was beyond eye-catching. In attack, the winger dominated any defender.
Per 90 minutes, he averaged 5.41 shot-creating actions and 2.75 shots. On top of this, he averaged a npxG of 0.19 and a xaG of 0.23.
However, these are not the most impressive. Clarke sits in the top 1% against other wingers and attacking midfielders for his dribbling. Per 90 minutes, he had 3.81 successful take-ons and 7.88 progressive carries. In turn, this led to 7.72 touches in the attacker’s box, putting him in the 2%.
Wolves target Jack Clarke is the natural heir to Pedro Neto
Unfortunately for many of the Molineux faithful, it looks almost certain that Neto will leave the Wolves this summer. Despite his injuries in the last campaign, his performances were fantastic every time he stepped onto the pitch.
Recently, this has carried over to the 2024 Euros where Neto played a vital part in Portugal’s late winner against Czechia.
However, it now seems that they have found a potential new replacement down in the Championship. For the last campaign, the duo had very similar statistics per 90 minutes.
Neto just beat Clarke in npxG and xaG with 0.21 and 0.26 respectively. However, the Sunderland winger triumphed in the rest of his highlighted statistics.
Despite this, there may be concerns that Clarke may not be able to make the step up to the Premier League. However, when compared to current England international Jarrod Bowen’s last full season at Championship side Hully City before his move to West Ham, the two have very similar stats.
Wolves cannot miss out on another Championship star
Since promotion to the Premier League, Wolves have been linked with multiple Championship stars.
While this has led to some signings, such as Adama Traore, their inability to strike a deal has caused many talents to escape their grasp.
Jude Bellingham is the most heart-breaking back when he was at Birmingham City. More recently, Victor Gyokeres and Adam Wharton were not signed despite reported interest.
This time, Wolves can have no excuses. If the club are planning on selling Neto for a big price, they need to bring in Clarke before someone else beats them to it.
Wolves have already acted quickly throughout the transfer window, if they can beat multiple clubs to the signing of Clarke, it would be a statement of intention from the O’Neil’s side.