FourFourTwo UK – September 2019

FourFourTwo September 2019 27

THESTORYSOFAR:AsManchester

CityloaneeJackHarrisonstruggledto

imposehimselfatLeeds,MarceloBielsa

puthisfaithina tangle-limbedteen

withaPeakyBlindersfringe.Cityrate

Harrisonat£20m,butgameafter

gamehedepartedathalf-time,leaving

thewingsforanotherJack’sfearless

andunpredictabledribbling.

Clarke’sbestgamewasawayatAston

Villa,wholed2-0athalf-time.Hecame

on,scoredandtorturedVilla’sdefence

intogivingLeedsa 3-2win.

Startinggameswasmoredifficult.He

heleftoneinanambulance,collapsing

onthebenchaftercomingoffat

Middlesbrough.Whenherecovered

fromwhatwassaidtobea virus,he’d

losttheelementofsurprisehehad

previouslyheldoverdozyfull-backs.

Butinthetitle-winningunder-23s

team,herevelledinhisfreedomto

nutmeg,clearlytoogoodforthelevel.

It wouldhavebeenboldtoturndown

thissummer’stransfertoChampions

LeaguefinalistsSpurs,butMauricio

PochettinotrustsBielsatocontinue

Clarke’sdevelopmentwitha season’s

loanbackatLeeds,afterhisown

educationatNewell’sOldBoys.

COMPAREDTO:EddieGray

(right),likeanyLeedswinger

becausethere’sneverbeen

onebetter.Ata photoshoot

advertisingclubsuits,they

posedlikefatherandson.

DIDYOUKNOW?In 2017

therewassomuchinterestin

Clarke,includingfromManchester

City,thatformerWhitesbossThomas

Christiansendecidedagainstplaying

himina LeagueCupgame,hidinghim

awayuntilhe’dsigneda contract.“We

wereafraidthathe’dcomeinandscore

JACK

CLARKE

a goal,” the Dane

said, understandably.

NICKNAME: Playing

darts in a club video on

YouTube, he claimed to be Jack ‘The

Wizard’ Clarke. Bielsa’s translator

Salim Lamrani, a regular bestower of

nicknames on Twitter, calls him Jack

‘The Wave’ Clarke. Teenage team-mate

Jamie Shackleton goes for ‘Clarkey’.

SOCIAL MEDIA: A few holiday photos: in

New York’s Times Square, on a quad bike

in Greece, and posing at York races with

Shackleton’s sister - an image that’s

already got tabloids attention, now he’s

officially a Premier League starlet.

THEY SAID: “We hope he’ll be back as

soon as possible,” said Lamrani, after

Clarke’s Boro collapse. “You make me

sound like a mercenary!” Bielsa huffed

in Spanish, tapping his translator’s arm.

“We will let him take all the time he

needs to recover,” Lamrani clarified.

Daniel Chapman

TALEnTSPOTTER

CLUB LEEDS UNITED

(ON LOAN FROM TOTTENHAM)

POSITION WINGER

Value £11.5m Age 18 Foot Right

Height 5ft 11in Nation England