Jack Clarke's nightmare spell at Tottenham Hotspur is finally over, three years after it began.
The midfielder was lured to North London from Leeds United back in the summer of 2019 for a fee of £10million. Spurs had reached a first-ever Champions League final in June that year and despite falling short to Liverpool in the showpiece, there was a hope that Tottenham were finally starting to realise their potential under Mauricio Pochettino.
The signing of Clarke that summer was one of a handful made as Spurs looked to push on, but he was very much seen as a future prospect, hence the decision to allow him to spend the 2019-20 season back at Leeds on loan. But that was to be the start of a strange season where Clarke barely featured for Leeds, then under the tutelage of Marcelo Bielsa.
The loan was terminated midway through the season after he played just one Championship game. Jose Mourinho, who regularly spoke of Clarke's potential, was Spurs boss at the time and decided to pull the plug on the loan arrangement.
Clarke would finish the season at QPR, with only a handful of appearances during a loan spell there. Instead of kicking on once he returned to Spurs he instead saw even less action. Another loan move to Stoke in the second half of the 2020-21 campaign followed before another temporary spell last season at Sunderland.
That turned out to be a huge success, so much so that the Black Cats have thrashed out a permanent deal with Tottenham.
The transfer brings to an end one of the oddest moves in recent years, with Clarke having made a grand total of just four appearances for Tottenham.
He never played a single minute in the Premier League but is now looking forward to a fresh start after signing a four-year deal with Sunderland, who he helped win promotion via the League One play-offs last season.
Speaking at his unveiling, the 21-year-old said: "I’m absolutely delighted to be back because I really enjoyed my time here last season. It felt right to return and after winning promotion to the Championship last season, I’m excited to play my part in the next step of our journey.
"We have a good balance in the squad and a great bond in the dressing room, so I believe we can continue to progress as a team and enjoy another successful season.”
Sunderland manager Alex Neil said: "Jack is a player with huge potential. We had him last season and I think he grew stronger and stronger as the season went on, but the most important thing for him is that he’s now our player. He has obviously got quality, but what he needed to do was find a home and we have managed to provide that. Jack enjoys it here and for us, we are pleased to have the deal across the line as it adds another attacking option."
Sunderland begin life back in the second tier at home to Coventry on July 31.
