Tommy Watson during a Sunderland game
Sunderland youngster Tommy Watson has agreed to join Brighton in the summer
Sunderland have gone from having 'two Jack Clarkes' to none in the space of just over seven months.
Of course, Tommy Watson was dubbed a 'Jack Clarke regen' by some of the Black Cats faithful who had watched the youngster come through the ranks at the Academy of Light.
When Clarke was out injured last season, supporters clamoured to see Watson fill the void left in the starting line-up, but he'd have to bide his time in a rocky period.
Fast forward seven months and the Wearsiders have banked a reported £28 million from the two left wingers combined, with Watson's move to Brighton for a fee estimated to be around £10m, confirmed yesterday evening with the Black Cats also inserting a sell-on clause into the deal.
Brighton were in for the 18-year-old during the January transfer window only to run out of time to conclude a deal. The club has fended off multiple approaches from Premier League clubs in recent months.
It felt almost inevitable Watson would leave the Stadium of Light with him about to enter the final 12 months of his contract this summer, and despite efforts to extend his contract, neither party could agree to new terms.
It's disappointing to lose such a promising young talent, but upon reflection and the wider context of the move, it's a transfer that makes perfect sense. Dare I say, a good one for Sunderland raking in an eight figure fee for a player who has made just 14 senior appearances for Regis Le Bris'side this season and 16 in his entire first-team career.
There's no doubting Watson has exceptional talent and he has the potential to reach the very top, but there's still plenty of his game that needs developing and in part why he wasn't thrust into the deep end last season.
This time round, with Sunderland vying for promotion, he's taken his chance. Hopefully he goes on to be the next Wearside talent to reach stardom, even if it will hurt supporters to see him in colours other than red and white.
Sunderland winger Tommy Watson will join Brighton in the summer
Taking to Instagram, Watson thanked supporters and vowed to help get the club promoted come the end of the season. He said: "Mackems, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! The support you've all shown me as I've come through the academy and broken into the first team has been amazing.
"Although the journey is not over yet, as the news of my move breaks I wanted to come on here and express a massive thank you to everyone along the way. We've still got one massive push until the end of the season and goals to achieve.
"I'll give my all to the team to make sure we do everything we can to reach them. See all of you that are travelling Saturday. Seven huge games to go to get this club back where it belongs [Red and white love heart emojis]."
Watson drew plenty of comparisons to that of Clarke last season, not just because the pair played in the same position, but they were similar in their running style and both had an uncanny knack of finding the back of the net cutting in from the left-hand side of the pitch.
Of course, the youngster didn't yield anywhere near the numbers of his more experienced former teammate in red and white, but neither did Clarke at the same age, and it'll now always be a case of 'what if he'd stayed, would he have followed suit?'
The comparisons could be deemed as unfair, not that Watson seemed to wilt under any pressure and he may go on to surpass his former teammate. Time will tell.
Jack Clarke was Sunderland's main man before a move to Ipswich last summer
Like Clarke back in 2019 when he left Leeds United to join Spurs, Watson trades a team vying for promotion at the top of the Championship for a Premier League side with a proven track record of developing young talents, only the latter will be hoping for a different outcome.
Those of a red and white contingent will argue there are few clubs who are doing a better job of developing young gems than Sunderland at the moment, but unlike years gone by when the club were powerless to teams higher up the food chain, they've been able to command a hefty price tag for one of their own.
Long gone are the days of promising talents being plucked from under their noses, with Joe Hugill and Bali Mumba to name just two of the academy talents to have left the club under a previous regime.
Clarke's transfer to Ipswich in the summer - which hasn't exactly been sunshine and daisies - was a sign of the recruitment model working in buying young talent and selling for a substantial profit.
But Watson's move goes one further and shows the investment into the academy and rebuilding behind the scenes is paying off. Developing another one of their own.
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and co. have had to rebuild the club from the ground up in terms of the academy, with Watson and Chris Rigg at the heart of their run to the Premier League 2 final last season.
As understandable as it is to see why Watson would want to move to the top flight, he must now leave a lasting impression on the Sunderland faithful.