Jack Clarke has left Leeds United to return to Tottenham Hotspur.
Well, Jack Clarke has left Leeds United for a second time in six months.
Tottenham Hotspur have activated their option to recall the £8 million winger who they bought and loaned back to Elland Road this past summer.
And with only 19 minutes of Championship football since August, it probably won’t come as a huge surprise to Leeds either.
For whatever reason, Marcelo Bielsa didn’t fancy using the 18-year-old all that much.
Despite the fact that Clarke wasn’t a big player for Leeds this time around, it’s imperative that Bielsa and Director of Football Victor Orta replace him.
There might be a temptation to not, considering Stuart Dallas and Ezgjan Alioski can technically play on the left-hand side of attack.
And of course Jack Harrison, who is having a very decent second season-long loan in West Yorkshire.
But Harrison is a player who needs somebody nipping at his heels in the pecking order, somebody to make him improve as a player and Alioski and Dallas aren’t going to do that.
The Macedonian has largely been used as a left-back this season, while Dallas, who scored a last-minute equaliser against Preston on Thursday, has been used in several roles.
Bielsa needs a pure left-wing option and a brilliant one. Harrison’s form has tailed off a little in recent weeks and if there isn’t competition for his place then what motivation has he got?
As mentioned, there could be a temptation for Leeds to not replace Clarke, but this January window is massive for the Whites – who have an eight-point cushion in the automatic promotion places – and getting it wrong could have dire consequences.
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