da dobrowin： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
da mrbet： Jack Clarke’s season isn’t exactly going to plan is it?
The teenager seemed to have the world at his feet last term, and his good performances earned him a £10m move to Tottenham Hotspur last summer.
He was immediately loaned back to Leeds, but he’s not been given much of a chance this season as he’s appeared in just one league game for the Whites since rejoining the club this summer.
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Understandably, there have been rumours that Tottenham are planning on cutting Clarke’s loan spell short, and Phil Hay has now revealed what the club’s plan is if the winger is recalled by the London club.
What’s been said then?
The journalist was hosting a Q&A session with The Athletic, and he was asked whether the club would sign a replacement or promote an academy player if Clarke was recalled.
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Hay was very clear with his answer as he went as far as to name which player would be given a chance.
“Promote from within. Stevens.” Hay said.
Later on in the session, another supporter stated that the club must think highly of Stevens after handing him a new contract and now looking towards him as Clarke’s replacement, to which Hay replied:
“They do. The new contract is a bonus for him so soon after his betting ban. That sort of thing can set a young player back badly and if Clarke was staying until the end of the season, it’s unlikely that Stevens would have had much of a look-in. Missing six weeks of training under Bielsa doesn’t do you any favours. But people I speak to tell me Clarke will be recalled.”
Testament to his quality
This really is a testament to how good of a player Jordan Stevens is.
The teenager missed six weeks of training earlier this season due to a ban he was handed after breaching betting regulations, and Hay is right when he says that missing that much football won’t have sat well with Bielsa.
The Argentine is renowned for his ‘murderball’ sessions and it must take a while to get up to speed with it, hence the fact missing training wouldn’t have helped Stevens’ cause.
However, it seems as if he’s still in the manager’s plans as he’s likely to appear on the bench quite often is Clarke is recalled, and this could be the youngster’s route into the first-team.
The fact that Stevens is seen as Clarke’s replacement despite all of his off the field issues in recent weeks just shows how highly he is rated at Elland Road.
In other news, a former Leeds star has revealed why he chose to leave Elland Road.