Sky Sports pundit Danny Mills believes that Jack Clarke needs to stay put at Leeds United despite reported attempts by Premier League clubs to lure him away from Elland Road.
According to reliable news outlet Football Insider, Southampton and Crystal Palace both tabled bids for Clarke, 18, in the January transfer window while Liverpool have also been linked [Express] with the young attacker.
However ex-Leeds defender Mills has urged the teenager to ignore the pressure to move to a bigger club and fight to win back his place in Marcelo Bielsa’s starting line-up.
“I think Jack Clarke should stay at Leeds,” Mills told Football Insider. “He’s played a few games this season, he’s not played often enough and when I look at players who have left Leeds United too early in the past, it’s very, very difficult not to.
“His mentors, his agents, his parents, whoever’s looking after him, other players, maybe speak to senior players, it’s very, very difficult if a bigger club comes in with a lot more money, double, treble your wages. You think, ‘I’ve got to go now, it’s my opportunity’.
“Sometimes it’s very, very difficult to hold yourself back and go ‘no, I need to play.’ He can’t get into the Leeds team at the moment, week in, week out, so if he goes to a so-called bigger club, a Premier League side, is he going to play week in, week out? No. Simple as that.”
OPINION
Clarke has had quite a turbulent season at Elland Road. Up until February he had been brilliant. He was making an impact off the bench, he was scoring goals and he was starting to appear more frequently in Bielsa’s starting line-up. That has all changed since he was taken ill and collapsed on the bench at Middlesbrough on February 9. It took Clarke a few weeks to get playing again and since he has returned to the side, his impact on matches has not been as great. It is a shame to think that illness has caused him to have a drop in form. It may have hurt his confidence or he is still not quite fully fit, it’s unclear. However Clarke may just need a good break in the summer to fully recover and start again next season. That’s why Mills is right to say that the young attacker should not go anywhere in next transfer window and focus on rediscovering his form at Elland Road.