He’s very much sharing the load on this deal.
QPR confirmed on Thursday that they had finalised their first deal of the January transfer window, as Jack Clarke arrived on loan from Tottenham Hotspur.
And following the 19-year-old’s arrival from North London, QPR boss Mark Warburton spoke about what exactly it was that attracted him to bring in the youngster. Speaking to the club website, he noted that it was his versatility that could well prove to be one of his biggest assets as the club pushes towards the business end of the season:
“Right now we have Ilias Chair, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Ebere Eze doing exceptionally well for us but with injuries, suspensions, form, you need to have options. Jack provides that. He can play on the left, on the right, or in the centre so we are delighted to have him. Hopefully the fans will see the quality that he has.”
As I wrote yesterday, a lot of whether or not this loan spell will be down to what he manages to bring to the table, however an arguably equal chunk of this will come down to how Warburton handles him, both in terms of the way he plays him as well as the players he puts around him to help him flourish.
Given that one of the reasons Spurs were willing to deal with us was because of his “strong reputation for developing young players”, a bad spell could go some way to putting a dent in that reputation, and could end up costing the team as a result if he under-performs because of the system that he gets put in.
I’ve written before that this transfer could be the catalyst for a lot of change within the squad, and hopefully with the upcoming changes we’ll be able to find a formation that gets the best out of not just him, but the rest of the team as well.
How many goals will Jack Clarke get whilst with us?
None
1-5
More than 5
Otherwise we could be in real danger of dropping points and sliding back down the table.
