Jack Clarke is now among the many products of the Leeds United academy plying their trade away from Elland Road in the professional game.
Clarke was once one of the most exciting talents to come out of Thorp Arch but only really had a handful of months in Leeds‘ first team before joining Tottenham. He did, of course, return on loan for half of a season, but played very little.
Following such a difficult time at Spurs and on loan at both QPR and Stoke City, Clarke had to go down to comeback up and joined Sunderland when they were in League One.
Clarke’s impressive progress at Sunderland earned him a summer move to newly promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town, despite interest from Leeds.
The 24-year-old has reunited with former Leeds teammates Kalvin Phillips and Leif Davis at Portman Road, both of whom are among the players who can be considered academy graduates of the Whites.
Clarke makes Ben Godfrey Leeds reveal
Pretty much all of Clarke’s footballing education came at Leeds and so he will have seen so many players pass through the net over the years.
Speaking in an interview with TWTD ahead of Ipswich’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace, Clarke has revealed how former Everton defender Ben Godfrey was one of them.
Like Clarke, Godfrey is also from York and so was offered a trial period at Leeds when he was a youngster, which ultimately didn’t lead to anything.
Considering Godfrey has gone onto play for England, and is now at top Serie A side Atalanta, he can certainly be considered one that slipped through the net.
Clarke said: “Ben was a couple of years above me at school so we never really crossed paths. We probably played football outside of school a few times because we were from the same area, but in terms of football pathways we went down different routes.
“He came on trial when he was younger at Leeds which didn’t come to anything for him, but he’s a top player and has done really well for himself.”
Daniel Farke almost offered Godfrey full circle Leeds moment
Funnily enough, the best period of Godfrey’s career so far actually came working under current Leeds boss Daniel Farke at Norwich City.
His form at the Canaries is what earned him a £25 million move to Everton, where he struggled to really build on his early promise due to injuries.
However, such was his former under Farke, the Leeds boss attempted to reunite with him at Elland Road back in January, when he was on the lookout for a defender.
Leeds wanted Godfrey on loan from Everton earlier this year but unfortunately a move never materialised.
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