Sailor beset by bad luck without a cent acquires capital (5)
I believe the answer is:
kabul
'capital' is the definition.
(capital of Afghanistan)
'sailor beset by bad luck without a cent' is the wordplay.
'sailor' becomes 'ab' (abbreviation for able seaman).
'beset by' is an insertion indicator ('beset' could historically mean 'cover').
'bad' indicates an anagram.
'without' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'a cent' becomes 'c'.
'luck' with 'c' taken away is 'luk'.
'luk' with letters rearranged gives 'kul'.
'ab' placed into 'kul' is 'KABUL'.
'acquires' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for kabul that I've seen before include "Capital city of Afghanistan" , "Move through water" , "Afghan capital" , "Middle Eastern capital" , "city abroad" .)