Front clunking

Hello I have a Clio 197 that has a clunking noise coming from the front left side of the car. I've sent it to a mechanic (hasn't worked on any Renault RS before) and he says it's the upper and lower ball joints on both sides which is around a £600 pound job which is a hell of a lot of money for me as I'm just a student. Anything else it could be that I should check out before pulling the trigger on this job?
 
Ball joints need to be replaced over time as they wear out. Clunking from the front of the car is usually a ball joint issue.

You could double check that your suspension top mounts are not loose and that your engine mounts are not excessively worn causing knocking under acceleration.