OPINION
Tottenham are stepping up their interest in Leeds youngster Jack Clarke and they’re ready to give him a big increase in salary, with bonuses and a signing-on fee, according to Football Insider.
That comes after the same site said that Tottenham had tabled an initial bid that fell short of the Leeds valuation of £20million.
FI claim that Leeds don’t want to lose him but might be forced to sell at least one of their major assets this summer after missing out on promotion last season. And Clarke must be tempted both by Spurs and the wages – he’s said to be one of the lowest-paid members of the Leeds first-team squad.
There could be a deal that works well for both sides.
In terms of impact on the squad, losing Clarke could be the best of a bunch of options for Leeds.
The one player Leeds won’t want to lose is Kalvin Phillips, who had a standout season under Marcelo Bielsa. Bielsa wants Phillips to stay with former Yorkshire Evening Post journalist saying he’s key to the way they play under the Argentine.
By contrast, 18-year-old Clarke burned brightly when he made the breakthrough into the Leeds first-team but faded away towards the end of the season and didn’t make any further starts after suffering from a virus. He only played minor bit parts in the play-offs, when Leeds lost to Derby in the semi-finals.
Tottenham obviously think that Clarke has bags of potential but getting out of the Championship is the key for Leeds – everything else is secondary.
There is an issue though. Leeds need money to bring in new players this summer and they can’t afford a deal for Clarke to go all the way through the summer, with Daniel Levy a notoriously tough negotiator.
But there is a win-win solution, letting Clarke go for less than the £20million that Leeds want but with an agreement for Tottenham to loan him straight back for at least the next season.
That way, Leeds get their cash, Tottenham get their man and Marcelo Bielsa gets to make use of Clarke in his second bid at getting out of the Championship.