The Athletic journalist Phil Hay has predicted that on-loan Tottenham Hotspur winger Jack Clarke is likely to be recalled from Leeds United in January.

A product of the Leeds academy, Clarke joined Spurs in the summer but returned to the Yorkshire club on a season-long loan.

The 18-year-old has had a frustrating start to the season at Elland Road, only featuring in the senior side's two Carabao Cup games, with the majority of his game time coming for the under-23s.

There is understood to be a recall clause in Clarke’s contract and Hay has revealed he expects Tottenham will use it in January if the teenager continues to see little involvement with the first-team.

His lack of opportunities are partially due to the fact that the Whites took six players on loan this summer but, according to EFL regulations, can only have five in a matchday squad.

With the other five loan signings seemingly deemed more important by Bielsa at this point, Clarke is the casualty of the club’s over-enthusiastic summer business.

The Verdict

Hay is a respected source for Leeds content and you can’t help but think that he is correct here.

Tottenham agreed to loan Clarke back to the Whites so he could continue to develop in their first team and at the moment he is not doing that.

If this continues, a loan move to another club looks like the best thing for the young forward’s development and the Premier League club will surely ensure that happens.

It is difficult to say how much of a blow it would be for the Yorkshire club.

At this point, Clarke has had no impact on Leeds’ promotion and is behind Pablo Hernandez, Jack Harrison, and Helder Costa in the pecking order but injuries in the second half of the season could mean that they come to regret seeing him leave in January.

There is still a long way to go until January, so by that time the winger could be significantly more involved and this may be a moot point.