Tottenham have the option to recall Jack Clarke from his loan spell at Leeds United this January.
Football Insider and The Athletic both report that the 18-year-old winger’s loan deal to his boyhood club contains a clause that allows Spurs to recall the teenager in the January transfer window if they believe he is not receiving enough first-team minutes.
And this appears to be the case so far this season for Spurs’ £10m summer signing.
Clarke has so far only played 70 minutes of football for Leeds as numbers from Transfermarkt show, playing in the Championship side’s 3-0 win over Salford City in the League Cup, and since then the on-loan attacker has since remained to sit on the bench with The Evening Standard reporting that the youngster could be out of the 18-man squad to face Stoke City.
However, it seemingly appears that the reasoning behind Clarke’s potential exclusion is to do with EFL regulations on the number of loanees a matchday squad can have, with the maximum number being five per team with Leeds currently having six.
With Eddie Nketiah, on loan from Arsenal, being the match-winner on Wednesday and the likes of Ben White and Jack Harrison all featuring for Leeds in multiple games this season, Clarke, who has a Transfermarkt valuation of £5.4m, appears to have drawn the short straw.
The Championship season is a long one, though, and injuries and fatigue are bound to come for Leeds as the campaign progresses, doubly so in a Marcelo Bielsa squad.
Clarke’s time to re-impress his childhood club will come, but if Tottenham doesn’t see improvements or regular first-team minutes, the north London side would be wise to activate the recall option on the 18-year-old and look for a different option for the youngster to improve his game.