Forgotten Tottenham winger signs for Stoke on loan
Tottenham winger Jack Clarke has joined Sky Bet Championship club Stoke on loan until the end of the season.
England Under-20 international Clarke becomes the Potters’ third loan signing of the transfer widow following the arrivals of Schalke winger Rabbi Matondo and Sheffield United defender Rhys Norrington-Davies.
The 20-year-old made three appearances for Spurs this season, including coming off the bench during Sunday’s 5-0 FA Cup third-round win at non-league side Marine.
Clarke was a £10m signing by Spurs from Leeds in the summer of 2019. He was immediately loaned back to the Whites for the 2019/season but he rarely featured. After his breakthrough season the previous year the York-born wideman would have expected to feature prominently. Instead his loan was cut short in January 2020 and he signed on loan for QPR.
City boss Michael O’Neill told the club’s official website: “Jack is an exciting young wide player who will bring an added dimension to our resources for the remainder of the season.”
Clarke joined Tottenham from Leeds in July 2019 and initially remained on loan at Elland Road, before spending the second half of last season at QPR.
Stoke sit eighth in the Championship ahead of Saturday’s trip to Blackburn.
Mourinho points finger at defence
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho is adamant he does not expect Tottenham to make any new signings during the transfer window – but did strongly suggest he was angry at his defenders for allowing Fulham an equaliser.
Tottenham took a first-half lead through the ever-reliable Harry Kane after sublime service from Sergio Reguilon.
Son Heung-min squandered an opportunity to put the game to bed when hitting the post after the break.
That near-miss would go on to prove fatal when Ivan Cavaleiro nodded home an equalising goal mere minutes later.
After the game, Mourinho lamented his side’s inability to “kill the game off”.
The Portuguese firebrand is known as something of a ‘chequebook manager’. However, he is adamant he won’t be asking Daniel Levy for a penny this month.
That’s not because he doesn’t want new players; rather for his own admission that he doesn’t “feel the right to ask for something”.
That’s after the club signed seven new players during the summer amid a difficult financial situation in the game.
That backs up Mourinho’s comments last week, when he stated: “One thing is to analyse, which of course I do.
“It’s another thing to demand something which I never do. Another thing is to ask for and I’m not going to ask for anything. I respect the effort the club makes.”