Sunderland have rejected a £14million offer from Lazio for winger Jack Clarke.
The 23-year-old has drawn interest from West Ham, Brentford, and Burnley, but Sunderland wants to keep him.
Since the summer, negotiations have been ongoing regarding the winger’s contract extension. This season, he has scored 13 goals in 29 Championship games.
But the Wearside club have so far failed to secure his signature.
Although they have not yet reached an improved agreement, Sunderland is still in negotiations to prolong his stay at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats are committed to keeping their best players at the Stadium of Light, as evidenced by last week’s downplaying of any rumours of Clarke’s departure by sporting director Kristjaan Speakman.
Kristjaan Speakman
‘I get the news about selling players but our ambition is to retain our best players, develop them, go higher in the league
I get the nervousness around selling players but there are players we all love and our ambition is to retain them and keep developing.