£5m player is now close to joining a new club after being released by Newcastle United

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After being released by Newcastle United at the end of last season, Ciaran Clark is closing in on a move to a new club.

The 33-year-old’s Newcastle contract expired at the beginning of the summer, and Clark has spent the past few months as a free agent.

He was unable to earn a permanent move to Sheffield United, despite playing 10 times during their promotion charge last season. Clark had been sent to Bramall Lane on loan last summer, having completely fell out of favour on Tyneside.

Now Clark is closing in on another move to the Championship, where he will get the chance to play alongside one of his former Newcastle teammates.

Ciaran Clark set to sign for Stoke City

According to journalist Alan Nixon, Clark is close to agreeing a move to Championship side Stoke City.

Clark looks set to join Alex Neil’s side, who have started the new season with two wins from their first five games and sit 16th in the second tier of English football.

The Republic of Ireland international will arrive with a wealth of experience of playing in the Championship, while he will also be reunited with Dwight Gayle. They spent four seasons together at Newcastle, and will now be teammates once again.

Clark and Gayle were both signed by Rafa Benitez, with the former costing £5million from Aston Villa.

He proved to be an astute signing, and was particularly brilliant when we won the Championship title in 2017.

However, his final few years on Tyneside were not great. Clark was especially poor under Eddie Howe, and endured some real low moments. One of those came when he was sent off early against Norwich City, although that misdemeanour is what led to Joelinton becoming a top class midfielder.

Clark’s last competitive appearance for Newcastle came on January 22nd 2022, and it was certainly a strong way to go out. He came off the bench during an away game against Leeds, and played a crucial role in the Magpies keeping a clean sheet. Howe’s side went on to win 1-0, and it was a key victory in our bid to avoid relegation that season.

Hopefully Clark does finalise a move to Stoke City, and he is able to play regular football once again.