Former Coventry City forward Noel Whelan has blasted Jack Clarke for failing to show any signs of improvement over the course of the season, questioning whether he is a one-season wonder.
Spurs chose to spend £10 million on Clarke last summer after he broke into the Leeds side last season and put in some impressive displays in the Championship.
He was loaned back to Marcelo Bielsa’s side for the season but, after barely playing any football in the first half of the year, was subsequently recalled by Tottenham.
He was then sent to QPR with hopes that he would feature more regularly for Mark Warburton’s side, but the teenager hasn’t earned too many starts since making the move.
Whelan insisted that the youngster had shown no signs yet that he is good enough to break into the Tottenham team and insisted that it was down to him to show that he was worth the money the Lilywhites shelled out on him.
Speaking to Football Insider, When said: “He’s (Clarke) nowhere near the finished article and at the minute I can’t see him breaking into that Tottenham side in the next couple of seasons.
“He’s gone to QPR, obviously trying to adapt into the London life at a team that’s not too far away but if he can’t get into the QPR side, no disrespect, but he’s a £10million player. That is what he was bought for, he commands that price tag on his head.
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“He’s got to find why someone paid that amount of money for him at a Premier League club. He’s got to find and digging deep into his tools to be that player that Tottenham bought because if he can’t, he could find himself being ousted by Tottenham and at another club.
“I don’t think he’s progressed at all. He couldn’t get into the Leeds United side, he got hardly any minutes, now he’s at a lower side in the Championship and he’s still not producing the goods.
“He’s got to look at himself – why is he not, what’s he doing that’s not good enough? Is it performances in training, is he not working hard enough, was he a one-season wonder?”
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Some rustiness was to be expected with Clarke given how little football he has played so far this season but it is worrying that he has failed to make any sort of impact at QPR so far. If he doesn’t break into the Rangers team before the end of the season and put in a few decent performances, it is very hard to see a future for him at Spurs.
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