Signing the 18-year-old was a relief for Spurs who last signed a player in January 2018 – when Lucas Moura arrived from Paris St-Germain.
Clarke is expected to further his development and return to North London a better player capable of giving manager Mauricio Pochettino a selection headache.
However, another man from North London seems to be blocking Spurs’ season-long plans for the teenager from coming to fruition.
Leeds brought in Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah on loan on deadline day as manager Marcelo Bielsa was forced to prioritize signing another number 9 after Kemar Roofe left for Anderlecht.
The arrival of the Gunners man meant the Whites ended up with six loan signings – including Clarke.
The EFL rules allow only five loanees in a match-day squad, and the Tottenham man was the odd one out against Wigan Athletic last weekend.
Nketiah’s arrival means Leeds have to almost always name him in their matchday squad as they could need him to start or come on, while they also had to promise Arsenal he will be used regularly before a deal was sealed.
Tottenham have no such agreement in place with the Whites, and the fact that Clarke played all 90 minutes in
Leeds Under-23s’ win against Millwall on Monday hints that he could miss out on tonight’s matchday squad against Brentford.
He will definitely get his chance going forward, but at the moment, the Spurs winger is somewhat surplus to requirements, and that is mainly because Nketiah’s arrival complicated the EFL’s loan quota.
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