According to the latest reports from the Mirror, Leeds United’s young winger Jack Clarke is unhappy with his situation at Elland Road. Clarke has already secured a move to Tottenham this summer, but Pochettino allowed the Whites to keep hold of him for another season on loan.
However, the 18-year-old who had a breakthrough campaign last season has so far featured sporadically. The youngster is yet to feature in the Championship even as a substitute and his only appearances came in the Carabao Cup tie. This is certainly a surprising turn of events as Clarke was seen as a crucial player for this season after he impressed in his little cameos in the 2017-2018 season.
Tottenham are reportedly willing to recall the winger the in January as Clarke has even failed to make the bench on occasions this season. Reports also indicate that Marcelo Bielsa is yet to provide a reason to the youngster on why he is being ignored so far.
Why might United still need him?
If that is the case, then Bielsa is undoubtedly in the wrong here. We feel it could be that Clarke’s mind is already at Tottenham and he hasn’t been committed enough in training after his transfer. The Whites have started their season strongly like last year, and they will look to maintain their reign on the top of the table.
Pablo Hernandez and Jack Harrison have been the preferred choices on the wings this season. As an impact substitute, Bielsa has relied on big summer signing Helder Costa. Clarke was often used as an impact substitute last year, but that place has now seemingly gone to Costa.
Nevertheless, in a long season, a player like Clarke can come in handy, and it would be disappointing to see him leave in January. The Whites have also struggled with plenty of injuries in the past year, so we think that the Englishman will have a role to play at some point in the season.
What should Bielsa do?
However, as things stand, the winger is likely to see the door from the club in January. Pochettino must have expected that Clarke would get his chances at Elland Road and that is probably the reason why he allowed him to stay at Yorkshire for his development. All in all, nobody is gaining from this situation, and Bielsa should come clear on why the promising youngster has been ignored so far after catching the eye in his first campaign last year.
