Port Vale manager Neil Aspin has admitted that on loan Mitch Clark could see his loan deal torn up by parent club Aston Villa in the winter window of 2019 as he potentially looks to make a move higher up the English leagues.
The 19-year-old defender joined the League Two outfit on a season-long deal over the summer and the versatile teen has become a regular for Port Vale, with 19 appearances in the first half of the season.
However, with the transfer market set to open again in the new year and Clark heading into the final six months of his Villa contract, Aspin insisted the deal could be ended early and the youngster could move elsewhere.
Asked whether the full back would stay or go, the manager told the Stoke Sentinal: “You could be asking me the same thing up until the last week of January.
“If a club from a higher league comes in for him and the lad wanted to go, and his agent was pushing for him to go, then there would be little we could do.
“All I will say is that he has enjoyed it while he has been here.”
Opinion
Clark has taken his loan chance with both hands and hit the ground running at Port Vale, and after impressing in the fourth tier he might well be hoping to secure a move at a higher level which either allows him to prove himself worthy of a new contract at Villa Park or secure interest from elsewhere for a contract come the end of his time with his parent club. Either way, it seems as though Aspin is pretty worried about seeing his defender leave the club early and considering the way he has not only bedded his way into the team but established himself as a mainstay in the starting XI he would be a big miss for Port Vale. Could he have done enough to convince Dean Smith to bring him back to Villa and run the rule over him with an eye on the senior squad there? It seems unlikely but at the same time the manager has not seen him in training yet, having arrived after the loan deal was done, and perhaps his impressive performances down the tiers could give him a shot in the Championship.