West Ham fans have got a very solid squad that they cheer on at The London Stadium every other week. The likes of Manuel Lanzini, Felipe Anderson and Sebastien Haller are incredibly talented, so why the club would look to loan in an 18-year-old winger who wouldn’t play is a strange one.
That winger, coincidentally, is at Leeds United on loan at the moment and is barely playing any senior football for the Whites under Marcelo Bielsa, making a potential move to the Hammers even more bizarre. If he doesn’t fit in at Leeds how will he fit at West Ham?
The player in question is, of course, the young Jack Clarke. Tottenham signed the Leeds man over the summer for a fee in the region of £10m before loaning him straight back to the Elland Road side to continue his development with one more season under the influence of Marcelo Bielsa, as per the BBC.
It’s now being reported, though, that with Clarke struggling to get enough game time under Bielsa at Leeds, that he could be set to be recalled by Mauricio Pochettino and sent elsewhere in the January window. That’s what The Express claim anyway, and West Ham are one of the touted sides.
It’s not just West Ham who are being mooted as a destination for the teenager, though. Crystal Palace and Everton are also in the mix, and as far as the Hammers should be concerned they should drop out now. Taking a Tottenham man on for six months doesn’t seem wise, especially when they already have plenty of talent out wide and in attacking midfield.
The likes of Anderson, Lanzini, Andriy Yarmolenko, Pablo Fornals and Michail Antonio have got developed quality in wide and central areas of midfield, leaving little space for Clarke. It also must be said that if he can’t crack a Championship starting eleven, why should he be taken on by a Premier League side?
