Key injuries set up West Ham, Brentford and Crystal Palace dogfight for £20m talisman

West Ham could face competition from Crystal Palace and Brentford in their pursuit of talented Sunderland winger Jack Clarke this January.

Details over the Hammers' admiration for the Black Cats star man emerged earlier this week but the Evening Standard now reports that David Moyes' side are not alone in weighing up a move for the 23-year-old. London rivals Crystal Palace and Brentford face similar injury woes and see Clarke as a solution.

The forward came through the Leeds United youth academy before breaking into the first team and being snapped up by Tottenham Hotspur in 2019. A series of loan spells followed until Sunderland made Calrke's temporary spell with them in 2022 permanent for an undisclosed fee.

The North East side, who sit sixth in the Championship and are chasing top-flight football after play-off heartbreak last season, are believed to be willing to accept a £20 million bid for Clarke - the club rejected an offer of around £15 million from Burnley last summer. The player has played in every second-division match this season and is Sunderland's top scorer with 12 goals.

West Ham's interest in Clarke comes as left winger Lucas Paqueta is ruled out until the end of January with a calf injury. It comes as talisman Jarrod Bowen picks up a short-term injury while Mohammed Kudus and Michail Antonio are also absent.

Crystal Palace and Brentford are also needing to recruit forwards with their own injury concerns. The Eagles have lost Michael Olise for the rest of January with a hamstring injury while the Bees are making do without the injured Bryan Mbuemo and Kevin Schade. Yoane Wissa is also unavailable as he takes part in the Africa Cup of Nations although Ivan Toney's return from his ban is imminent.

Clarke's agent, former defender Ian Harte, has also spoken about the star's future and alluded to the fact that if a big Premier League club was to come calling, it would be hard to turn down. Speaking to The i in December, Harte said: “Jack is happy. He loves it at Sunderland. Obviously, there was a club that came in over the summer to try and take him away.

"They put the offer into Sunderland, Sunderland declined and obviously Jack has to stay professional, he has to still go and put performances in and that’s what he’s done and that’s what he’ll continue to do.

“I’ve always said Jack is happy at Sunderland, he loves it at the club, he gets on with the group of players. I’m guessing Sunderland have a valuation, if that valuation is met then I’m sure they’ll be on to me and onto Jack saying ‘thanks for your time but it’s time to move on’ in the nicest way possible.”