£11m man may now have absolutely no chance of making it at Tottenham – Our View

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Tottenham Hotspur, in recent years, have been one of the best teams in the Premier League when it comes to bedding in young talents.

Players such as Dele Alli, Oliver Skipp and Harry Winks have all broken into the first-team as youngsters in recent years, but in recent times, those opportunities have dried up.

Indeed, Spurs still have a number of talented young players on their books such as Nile John, Dane Scarlett and Alfie Devine, but they’ve not been getting many chances as of late.

Spurs are neglecting their U23s at the moment, and arguably the biggest offence has been committed this week as Spurs opted to sell Dilan Markanday to Blackburn Rovers.

Markanday really couldn’t have done any more in his attempts to make it at Tottenham.

He was in ridiculous form for the U23s, netting 12 goals and grabbing five assists in 14 PL2 appearances this term, but he wasn’t handed a single chance in the Premier League, and he’s now been sold.

It’s not as if the 20-year-old was pushing for a move either, it was just a couple of months ago that he said he wanted to stay at Spurs for the next 15 years, this is the club, quite simply, refusing to show any faith in the youth.

You have to question Spurs’ treatment of a player like this, and players who are currently at Tottenham may now have to wonder where they stand.

One player who we have to imagine will be worried about his future is Jack Clarke.

Clarke, like Markanday, is a right-winger, and to be brutally honest, he’s not shown anywhere near the same level of promise as Blackburn’s new signing.

In the same number of PL2 games this season, Clarke has 10 fewer goal contributions, and if Markanday, a younger player who was producing better performances, was seen as dispensable, then what does that make Clarke?

Sadly, the reality is that the one-time £11m signing may now have absolutely no chance of making it at Tottenham. He’s made just four senior appearances in three years in north London, and as the sale of Markanday shows, you have to do something absolutely remarkable in order to break into this team – and sometimes, even that isn’t enough.