Tottenham have confirmed the signing of Jack Clarke from Leeds United. The 18-year-old has agreed a four-year deal with Spurs and will spend the 2019/20 campaign back at Elland Road. Clarke is coming off the back of a breakthrough season at Leeds where he made 25 appearances in all competitions and contributed four goals.
According to BBC Sport, Spurs have paid £10m for the wide-man and will make further payments based on specific clauses. Clarke is Tottenham’s first signing for 18 months, with Lucas Moura’s arrival from Paris Saint-Germain being their previous acquisition. Supporters will have to wait a year before seeing the new addition in action, however.
Nevertheless, Clarke has real potential. In 814 minutes of Championship football last season, he created 17 chances, 27 successful dribbles (56%), completed 76% of his passes, whipped in 28 crosses with 14% accuracy and made 13 tackles. He’ll have stiff competition from Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura and Heung-min Son in the Tottenham first-team, however.
Mauricio Pochettino will be the ideal manager to develop Clarke into a senior-level talent, having quickly introduced Dele Alli to the first-team when he arrived from MK Dons in 2015, so the 18-year-old could have a bright future. As for potential shirt numbers, No. 13, No. 19, No. 26, No. 28, No. 29, No. 30, No. 31 and No. 32 are available.