Leeds United loanee Jack Clarke looks set for an early return to Tottenham Hotspur in January.
The 18-year-old was snapped up by the Premier League giants for around £10 million (The Sun) in the summer. This came after the youngster played a key role as Marcelo Bielsa’s men made the Championship play-offs last time out.
As part of the deal, Clarke was sent back to Elland Road on a season-long loan deal to continue his development.
However, it hasn’t quite worked out for the youngster this time out.
Clarke has fallen foul to the English Football League ruling that teams can only include five loanees in their match-day squad. Bielsa has regularly snubbed Clarke in favour of Manchester City loanee Jack Harrison on the left-side.
Not only has this been incredibly frustrating for the winger, but also his parent club back in North London.
Talent
According to The Sun‘s article in September, Spurs weren’t happy with the situation and were planning to recall the youngster in January. Given that the situation hasn’t improved, this is unlikely to have changed.
It’ll be interesting if the recent change in manager at Spurs will have any impact on Clarke’s future. José Mourinho will be assessing his squad over the coming weeks and will have to make a decision on what to do with the youngster.
There are likely to be a number of clubs ready to swoop if the winger does become available.
According to Sporting Life, there have been a number of other Championship clubs who have expressed an interest in taking him for the second-half of the season. The Nottingham Post have suggested that the Reds could be one of those.
It’s fair to say that the youngster would be a good addition to Sabri Lamouchi’s squad.
The Reds are currently poised to push for promotion to the Premier League. However, they’ve often been criticised for not creating enough chances.
Clarke would certainly add firepower to Lamouchi’s squad. He would provide good competition to the likes of Joe Lolley and Sammy Ameobi.
However, it’s fair to say that signing a striker has to remain the priority for the Reds.
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