Evidence of the effectiveness of Leeds United’s academy system can be found stocking the sides of teams at all levels of English football.
From League Two to the Premier League, there are players whose journey in football began at Elland Road.
One of those players is highly-rated right wing starlet Jack Clarke who is at Tottenham Hotspur and he’s a wanted man according to Football Insider.
Jack Clarke – Leeds United to Spurs
After coming up through the age groups a Elland Road, Clarke broke into first-team plans in the 2018/19 season. He went on to make 22 apperances for the Whites that season, scoring two goals and providing two assists.
What then followed was a £10m summer sale to Premier League Tottenham Hotspur and a loan back to Leeds United for the 2019/20 campaign. He got just once run-out on 23 November – 19 minutes on his birthday.
He returned to Spurs and was then loaned out to QPR. He featured just seven times for the Loftus Road outfit before the season’s end and a return to the North London outfit.
His time back at the Premier League side has seen him make two appearances for the first team in the Europa League vs LASK and Ludogrets and eight appearances for the Under-23s in the Premier League 2 competition (two goals/two assists).
Championship clubs line up for Clarke
According to Football Insider’s Wayne Veysey, Jack Clarke is wanted by Stoke City, Coventry City and Sheffield Wednesday on a loan deal in January. It will be a loan that runs until the end of the season.
Veysey writes that the trio of second-tier sides “have been put on red alert” by news that Spurs intend to let £13m rated Clarke out on loan to aid his development. Veysey adds that “all regard Clarke as a big talent” and all interested sides see him as “capable of making an impact in the second half of the season.”
Spurs allowing Clarke to drop down to the Championship will be on the proviso that he gets more exposure to first-team football than he did at either Leeds United or QPR. The three named clubs should be able to supply him with much more game time.
