Jack Clarke completes move to Spurs, the re-joins Leeds on loan

02 Jul 2019 10:14 am, by YorkshireSquare


Jack Clarke today completed his transfer to Spurs on a 5 year deal worth in the region of £9m to Leeds United initially with further add-ons depending on Clarke’s progress. In a twist the 18 year old winger has immediately signed back with Leeds United on loan until the end of the season. The young winger made his biggest impact from the bench last season but failed to pin down a starting place, it is clear though that he is a fantastic prospect with lots of potential. A move back to Leeds for the season where he is likely to see more first team action than he would at Spurs is a wise move for all parties.

It is unfortunate to have to be in a position to sell off our young players but that is the reality of the Championship and FFP. With this deal Andrea Radrizzani has strengthened his war chest to enable investment in new players and has retained the services of one of our most exciting prospects for a further season. Some fans will regard the deal as short term but the priority must be to gain promotion from the Championship and this deal gives us funds to invest whilst doesn’t weaken the team for the forthcoming season.

The priority now is for Radrizzani to retain our other key players such as Kalvin Phillips and Pontus Jansson. With Clarke already sold to Spurs the loss of any more of our key players will be seen as a serious lack of ambition from the club. Whilst the sale of Clarke hasn’t bothered me too much the sale of a player such as Kalvin Phillips with everything he contributed to the side last year would be a major blow. As it stands the club seem to have done some good business so far this summer and we are going to next season stronger than last.



Jack Clarke, Skills & Goals 2018/2019


Clarke returning on loan comes on the back of Jack Harrison re-joining for a second successive season. His deal also has an option to make his signing a permanent next summer. Harrison signed for Manchester City from New York, where he made 56 MLS appearances, in January 2018 but has yet to play a game for the Manchester side. After a relatively unsuccessful loan at Middlesbrough his first real chance to impress in English football came last season at Leeds United and he will look to build on those performances this season.

Leeds are also rumoured to be looking to further strengthen the squad with Helder Costa in Victor Orta’s sights. Costa is a huge talent and was a sprinkling of stardust in the Wolves team that won promotion to the Premier League a couple of years ago but whilst featuring in 25 matches as Wolves finished 7th last year most appearances were from the bench. Costa is reportedly free to move and will be keen for first team football following a hit and miss performances last season whilst coming back from injury.