Sunderland AFC may have just repeated Leeds United, Jack Clarke trick with £11m deal | OneFootball

Sunderland's sale of Tommy Watson to Brighton could work out just as well as Leeds United's deal with Spurs for Jack Clarke in 2019

Sunderland’s deal with Brighton to sell Tom Watson this summer is reminiscent of Jack Clarke’s deal to leave Leeds United for Tottenham Hotspur in 2019.

It has been reported by The Northern Echo that the Black Cats agreed a deal in the region of £11 million with the Premier League club for the 18-year-old.

Watson emerged as a bright and talented young forward earlier this season, breaking into Régis Le Bris’ first-team plans back in September.

The forward has managed 14 appearances in the Championship in total this year, even scoring twice in a 2-1 win against Stoke City in December.

While injury kept him on the sidelines for almost three months, he has returned to the team in recent weeks, and the youngster has now earned a big-money move to the top flight.

Sunderland selling Tommy Watson is similar to Leeds United's Jack Clarke sale

Clarke broke through the Leeds academy system as a teenager and earned a move to Spurs after just one season at Elland Road, playing a similar role to Watson in Marcelo Bielsa’s side, with two goals and two assists in 24 appearances.

While it didn’t work out for Clarke at the London outfit, the Whites profited a tidy sum close to what Sunderland have earned for Watson, with the BBC reporting a deal in the region of £10 million back in 2019.

What happens next for Watson won’t be of much immediate interest to Sunderland either. All that matters now is they’ve been able to continue building a successful business strategy around developing younger players.

The teenager has a bright future ahead of him, and the move to Brighton is very exciting, but for the Black Cats it means it’s now easier to ward off interest in their more important first-team stars.

The likes of Chris Rigg, Jobe Bellingham, Wilson Isidor and Daniel Ballard could all attract big interest this summer, but this £11 million windfall means there’s less of a need to sell to raise funds and stay profitable. Leeds managed to retain the likes of Kalvin Phillips after selling Clarke, whilst also arming Bielsa with a promotion-winning squad.

Tommy Watson could follow Jack Clarke's trajectory

Watson certainly looks like a very exciting talent, and supporters will be disappointed to see him depart before ever realising his true ceiling with the Wearside outfit.

However, much like Clarke, this move to Brighton is coming at a very early stage in the player's development, and he remains quite raw and with a lot of potential that needs to be untapped in the right environment.

The Leeds winger went back to the Whites that summer as the first of four loan moves, but he fell down the pecking order and struggled to improve.

This ultimately led to a permanent move to the Stadium of Light in 2022, where Sunderland rehabilitated his career.

Clarke was sensational for Sunderland, especially after joining permanently following promotion to the Championship, and his haul of 27 goals and 20 assists ultimately earned a big-money move to Ipswich Town last summer.

Brighton have proven a stronger breeding ground for young players compared to Spurs during Clarke's time there, but even players like Eiran Cashin have still struggled for game time since moving to the Amex, offering a lesson for Watson to take note of before he officially moves over in the summer.

Evan Ferguson's career stalling under Fabian Hurzeler is another warning, and the Ireland international had a more credible breakout year than Watson's enjoyed this year, with 10 goals in the Premier League to his name by the time he was 19.

Sunderland will be keeping a watchful eye on his progress, especially as the Championship side themselves have built a reputation for giving younger players a chance, which is evidenced by Clarke's return to prominence while at the club after leaving Leeds in a big-money deal that didn't work out.