Done Deal: Jack Clarke joins Stoke City on loan to end of season

The news about a potential loan deal for Tottenham Hotspur youngster Jack Clarke came out yesterday, and today it’s been confirmed. Spurs announced on its social media channels and its website that Clarke, 20, will spend the second half of the season on loan at Stoke City.

This is repeating ourselves a bit, but this really does seem like a good situation. After two pretty crappy loans last season at Leeds and QPR, Clarke spent the first half of the season at Spurs playing with the U23s and training with the first team, which got him working with the likes of Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Son Heung-Min every day.

Now he needs minutes. Good ones. Stoke apparently wants to change the way they play to more of a 4-3-3 formation and view Clarke as one of the key pieces in that transformation. Stoke is also in the hunt for promotion and sit just a few points out of a playoff spot. At Stoke, Clarke could end up a part of a Premier League promotion campaign, which is both hard and cool. If he can establish himself as a starter, it could be the thing that propels him forward into contention for first team minutes at Spurs next season.

Of course we’ve said this before and the loans didn’t pan out. Even so, all you really need is one good loan for to jump start a young professional career, and Clarke has already shown he’s Championship level. Time to prove it now.