Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has perhaps poured cold water on any notion that Jack Clarke will arrive at Nottingham Forest in January (Leeds Live).
The youngster is currently on loan at Elland Road from Tottenham, although his first-team chances have been infrequent. That has seen a pretty loose link emerge between Forest and Clarke ahead of the January window.
Bielsa utilised the winger for the last 19 minutes in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Luton and afterwards spoke about Clarke.
He told Leeds Live: “In the second match he played with England he had a very good match for us. We are always looking for different options: Pablo and Helder on the right, Tyler and Pablo in the middle, Costa and Clarke on the left.
“The three places where the offensive play grows or stops because Bamford is less involved in the build-up and more in the finish. Klich, Ayling and Dallas had an impact from behind. I wanted to refresh the two wingers and playmaker.”
Clarke’s cameo on Saturday saw him play in the Championship for the first time this season.
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It had been mentioned that Spurs could recall him in January and loan him elsewhere. Now that Mauricio Pochettino has departed to be replaced by Jose Mourinho it could complicate matters.
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Clarke completed a £10 million (The Guardian) switch to Tottenham in the summer and was immediately loaned back.
If Forest do pursue his signature in January he would add to a decent plethora of wingers already in Sabri Lamouchi’s ranks.
Sammy Ameobi, Joe Lolley and Albert Adomah have all featured this season and Clarke would provide an injection of youth.
A lot will depend on the decision which Tottenham make of course. Bielsa is going to need to utilise Clarke a lot more often to persuade the Premier League side not to recall him.
Forest will surely look to strengthen their squad during the next window and it remains to be seen whether Clarke will end up at the City Ground.
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