As he gears up his team for life back in the Premier League, Clarets manager Vincent Kompany has made former Tottenham

Hotspur and Leeds United attacker Clarke one of his key priorities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following his outstanding performance for Sunderland last season, Clarke, 22, is a target for several Premier League teams.

 

The deft forward made 50 appearances for Sunderland last season, contributing to nearly 20 goals with 11 goals and 13

assists across all competitions.

 

Although it has been reported that Burnley, Crystal Palace, and Brentford are also interested in Clarke, Kompany’s team has

stepped up their pursuit of the midfielder with bids.

 

Burnley made two offers that Sunderland rejected, and now the Clarets have made a third, improved offer in the

neighborhood of £9 million.

 

Clarke’s current contract at the Stadium of Light has three years left to go, but TEAMtalk reported last month that

negotiations over an extension had broken down. Sunderland is adamant about keeping the wide man, though.

 

In January 2022, former Leeds star Clarke made his loan move to Sunderland, where he played in 20 games and assisted

them in winning League One play-off promotion to the Championship.

 

Sunderland turned his loan move from Tottenham into a permanent deal last summer and the skilful attacker has continued

to flourish under Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray.

 

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Three new signings start, no KDB: Man City’s predicted XI for PL opener vs Burnley

On Friday, August 11, Manchester City will face Vincent Kompany’s Burnley in their first Premier League match on the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ilkay Gundogan’s departure from the team and subsequent signing with Barcelona as a free agent are the only alterations

that have been made to the Citizens’ roster thus far during this summer’s transfer window.

 

Additionally, the Manchester club has signed Mateo Kovacic to a four-year, £30 million contract from Chelsea.

 

Other names that City have been linked with include RB Leipzig defender, Josko Gvardiol, who has reportedly agreed

personal terms with the club over a potential move, as well as Celta Vigo midfielder Gabri Veiga.

 

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what we think Pep Guardiola’s starting XI could be for the match against Burnley in

the opening fixture of the 2023/24 season.

City predicted starting XI vs Burnley

In goal, it would surprise no one to see Ederson start in goal following his efforts in the Champions League final against

Inter Milan where he kept a clean sheet and made five saves in total.

 

Ahead of the Brazilian, we predict that Manuel Akanji will line up with Ruben Dias and John Stones, in addition to Gvardiol,

should the Croatian end up joining the club this summer.

 

Moving into the attack, we can see that Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva will be positioned on either side of Erling Haaland.

Haaland will face a challenging task in trying to match his incredible goal-scoring performance from last season, when he

netted 52 goals in 53 games.