"Tough" - Sunderland captain Dan Neil drops Jack Clarke, Ipswich Town transfer admission | OneFootball

The tricky winger finally got his Premier League move this summer.

Sunderland captain Dan Neil has admitted losing Jack Clarke to Ipswich Town this summer was "a tough one to take" but believes that he earned the right to make the step up to the Premier League.

The £20 million total offer from Ipswich that was accepted by Sunderland, with £15 million being paid up front, surprised some people, despite the previous reports suggesting that this figure would be enough to convince the Black Cats to let go of their star player.

They felt comfortable with what Ipswich offered, and they finally secured the huge profits on Clarke that they had expected to make on the winger.

The profits should continue to come too as it was revealed on Wednesday that Sunderland have a 15% sell-on clause in their deal with the Tractor Boys, much like Tottenham Hotspur's clause that reportedly sent 25% of the proceeds from the sale of the 23-year-old to north London.

Dan Neil's reaction to Jack Clarke's Ipswich move

Neil, who has been designated as the Black Cats' team captain for this season, was sad to see his former teammate go, but he believes that they have a good contingency plan in place and he wished Clarke the best as he tries his hand in the English top flight.

"It was obviously a tough one to take," Neil told BBC Radio 5 live. "I think, first of all, as a person, he was absolutely brilliant. He got on with all the lads and he was really good to have around the dressing room. But again, as a footballer, he was a bit of the maverick in our team last year and the year before, where anything could happen when you get Jack the ball.

"You've seen that last year with the goal contributions that he gave but I think, first of all, he deserves that move to the Premier League. I don't think anybody took the huff that he left and went to the Premier League because we all understood that he deserved it and should challenge himself in the Premier League.

"I think, credit to the club, we brought Romaine Mundle last January and in pre-season, he's been one of the best players in pre-season for me in training. And if Jack Clarke stayed, then he might not have got that chance. But Romaine came in and he took his chance with both hands. He scored two-in-two, Burnley and Portsmouth.

"We brought in Wilson from Zenit on loan and a few other boys so there's plenty of competition for that place. But like I said, Jack deserved that move and we had no problem with seeing him go and we just wish him the best."

Sunderland's recruitment strategy is paying dividends

Usual logic would dictate that when you have top players in a certain position, like Sunderland had with Clarke and Patrick Roberts, you don't need to go and add further bodies to that area of the pitch. But that's what the Black Cats did in January when they acquired Mundle.

Granted, Roberts wasn't fully fit at the time of the ex-Spurs winger's winter arrival, but he returned soon after the January window closed.

That constant search for the next big thing has led Sunderland to find gems that have developed under their tutelage and then become ready to make an impact on the first team.