Tottenham Hotspur brought in Jack Clarke from Leeds United and have immediately loaned him back to the Championship side.
Tottenham Hotspur’s deal for Jack Clarke looks even better now, as Leeds United have paid so much for Helder Costa.
Tottenham snapped up Clarke from Leeds for £8.5 million on Tuesday (Daily Mail), which helped to enable the Whites to seal a deal for Costa.
Leeds are set to spend £15 million on Costa, and that really does make Clarke look like a bargain.
Clarke may not be as proven as Costa at Championship level, but he is seven years the Portuguese man’s junior.
Clarke is still only 18 and he has already shown glimpses of the fact that he can be a major threat in the second tier.
The hope at Tottenham is that Clarke will develop into a Premier League star, and that is something that Costa hasn’t been able to do.
The trickster struggled in the top flight with Wolverhampton Wanderers, and he heads to Leeds with a point to prove.
Promotion is the aim at Leeds and the Costa for Clarke swap does rather suit the Whites at this current stage, as the former Benfica man is currently the superior player.
But when Tottenham see players that are totally unproven above Championship level moving for nearly double what they paid for Clarke, they must reflect on the transfer as a piece of potentially brilliant business for them.
Clarke clearly has the ability to go on and play well above the level he is currently at, and if he does then his value will sky rocket.
Clarke’s arrival at Spurs has rather been overshadowed as Tanguy Ndombele signed on the same day, but the deal deserves to be widely celebrated, as it could well be viewed as an extremely smart piece of business in future years.
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