Spurs winger Jack Clarke set to seal new move in time to face former club Leeds

Nestor Watach
Jack Clarke TEAMtalk

Tottenham youngster Jack Clarke is reportedly set to move Queens Park Rangers on loan, just ahead of their Championship clash with his former club Leeds United.

The 19-year-old winger is set to seal a move to the Loftus Road club in the coming days, according to  Leeds reporter Phil Hay of The Athletic.

Clarke enjoyed a breakthrough season with his boyhood club Leeds last year, first handed his debut by  Marcelo Bielsa during their push for promotion.

Eye-catching early performances against Aston Villa and Derby County caught the eye of Tottenham, who signed him for a reported fee of £10m in the summer, but he failed to kick on after returning to Leeds on loan.

He struggled for first-team opportunities to an even greater degree than Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah, who also saw his season-long loan to Elland Road cut short, with both being recalled by their respective former clubs earlier in the winter window.

Clarke was most often used in Leeds’ Under-23’s fixtures, starting twice in the League Cup, but making just one 19-appearance off the bench in their Championship campaign.

He was also a victim of new EFL regulations. Leeds already had five loanees at the club and they stated that clubs can only field four loan players in a match-day squad.

The forward was often left out entirely, with Jack Harrison (Man City), Helder Costa (Wolves), Illan Meslier (Lorient) and Ben White (Brighton) ahead of Clarke in the pecking order.

It had been reported last week that there were discussions behind the scenes for his next destination, with Clarke keen to return to a club in the north to be closer to his friends and family, but his Spurs insistent he was to move to another London club.

That looks to have been settled with QPR winning out over interest from Fulham and Brentford, with Leeds their next fixture in an early kick-off at Loftus Road on Saturday.

Mark Warburton’s Hoops sit 15th in the table with just one win from their last six league outings, while Leeds have also won just one of their last six, under pressure as Brentford have closed the gap to six points behind them in the race for the automatic promotion positions.

Leeds lost 1-0 on their last visit to Loftus Road last season, while QPR will be in a confident mood on home soil after recently registering a 5-1 win over Swansea in the league and a 6-1 win over Cardiff in the FA Cup.