da apostaganha： Tottenham Hotspur loaned Jack Clarke to Leeds United in the summer.
da 888： Sources have suggested to Football FanCast that, having agreed a deal to sign the winger, Mauricio Pochettino changed his mind, informing chairman Daniel Levy that he did not see a way to implement Clarke into his first-team squad.
It appears that the same goes for Marcelo Bielsa.
Thus far this season, the 18-year-old has not played a single minute of Championship football.
Instead, he has been limited to two appearances in the Carabao Cup, playing 70 minutes in the 3-0 win over Salford City and then being substituted at half-time during the penalty shootout defeat to Stoke City.
It means that particular avenue of first-team football is now closed off to Clarke, and it feels more like a disastrous move with every passing weekend.
Of course, this is not to say that Clarke was a regular last season; he made 25 appearances in all competitions but just five of those were starts.
It was perhaps presumptuous then, for Spurs to think the teenager would gain even more minutes this time around. Pochettino decided against keeping him, but there may have been League One or League Two clubs who could have taken Clarke on and made him an integral part of their side.
Noel Whelan, the Football Insider pundit who played for Leeds during his career, has claimed that Bielsa and Pochettino are in regular contact over the winger.
He said: “From what I’ve heard about Bielsa, he will be in talks with Pochettino regularly about Clarke.
“Bielsa will be telling him what’s going on in training, Clarke’s attitude, performance and effort, and why he isn’t in the side.
“They know each other well and Pochettino will be getting the full picture of what’s going on.
“Tottenham sent him back to Leeds because they trust Bielsa’s ability to develop young players. Jack Clarke is now third or fourth in the pecking order for the right wing role behind the likes of Pablo Hernandez and Helder Costa.
“Is Jack going to get in ahead of those two? No, he’s not. He’s going to have to bide his time and win the manager over in training.”
Whelan is probably right but the fact that Leeds have two senior wingers ahead of Clarke is a damning indictment of Spurs’ decision to send him back in the first place.
It is all very well thinking that Bielsa will develop him, but surely he has to play to earn his stripes?
One has to believe that Spurs have erred here and if the reports suggesting he has a recall clause turn out to be true, then the Premier League club should be bringing him back as soon as possible before sending him out on loan again in January – this time to a club that will actually afford him minutes on the pitch.