AS MANY as six Premier League clubs are interested in Jack Clarke as well as a couple of Sunderland's Championship rivals but as things stand it's unclear as to whether they'll make a push for the winger this month or wait until the summer.

West Ham United are keen on Clarke having closely monitored the 23-year-old during the first half of the season, in which the former Leeds and Tottenham winger has starred for the Black Cats, scoring 12 goals.

Crystal Palace and Burnley - who wanted Clarke in the summer - remain interested, while Wolves, Everton and Bournemouth are also understood to be monitoring the winger's situation.

Clarke is also on the radar of Leicester City and Southampton, with the Foxes destined to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking and the Saints well placed to follow suit.

What's not clear at this stage is whether any of the interested clubs will firm up their interest with a bid this month for Clarke, who has two-and-a-half years to run on his Sunderland contract, or wait until the summer.

Sunderland knocked back £10m-plus bids from Burnley for Clarke in the summer and, unless they escape relegation danger and survive this season, the Clarets now look to have missed their chance to sign the in-form winger.

Clarke was said to have been frustrated that he was denied a Premier League move ahead of the start of this season but is happy at Sunderland and responded in style to the summer speculation with his best run of form on Wearside. Before his sacking, former boss Tony Mowbray repeatedly praised Clarke for the manner in which he'd dealt with the uncertainty in the summer.

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As things stand, interested clubs are thought to value Clarke up to £15m but Mowbray previously said that Sunderland "wouldn't even consider" offers under £20m.

Only three players have scored more goals in the Championship so far this season than Clarke, who also has two assists. With Sunderland's strikers struggling for goals, the winger's excellence has ensured the Black Cats have kept in touch with the promotion pack.

Head coach Michael Beale, who is desperate to keep hold of Clarke this month, said recently: "You can see that there's a bit of an over-reliance on Jack but to be honest, I think any team in the Championship would rely on a player of his ability."

Before his sacking, Mowbray said of Clarke: "I don't know what he is worth now. More than £10m? I would think so!

"I know for a fact that the club wouldn't even consider anything less than probably double that in the modern market of football. I do think the club should be ready [for interest] because people will look at Jack Clarke either in this window or in the summer because he is a phenomenal talent.

"I can see why he got a move to Tottenham at such a young age, because the attributes he has got and the ability and how close he can keep the ball, he's an amazing footballer."

Sunderland are keen to strengthen their squad this month, with a centre-forward the priority.

They've also been linked with a move for last season's loan star Amad Diallo. The 21-year-old has only featured once for Manchester United this season having spent the first half of the campaign on the sidelines with a knee injury. He's also been linked with Leicester City and a Mowbray reunion at Birmingham City, but earlier this week responded to the speculation on social media and claimed the reports were untrue.

Meanwhile, Sunderland have confirmed that Elliot Embleton's loan spell with Derby has ended. The midfielder joined the Rams in the summer but suffered a serious thigh injury that required surgery after just two games.

He returned to Wearside for his rehabilitation and, with the January transfer window open, his Derby loan spell has now officially concluded.