Having signed Jack Clarke last summer, Tottenham fans would be forgiven for wondering what on earth has been going on with the 19-year-old.

The teenager spent the first-half of the campaign on loan at former side Leeds, before Jose Mourinho’s side pulled the plug midway through the season and sent him to QPR in the hope of more game-time.

And with the postponement of football, Clarke sits on just eight first-team appearances for any team in mid-March – not the kind of exposure to first-team football that he, or Spurs would no doubt have hoped for.

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The starlet may well already be thinking ahead, and wondering whether he may stand a better chance by impressing for Spurs during pre-season when he comes back from his loan spell at the Hoops.

But with reports in recent days and weeks linking Mourinho’s side with a move for Chelsea winger Willian, it would represent a damning verdict on a prospect who is yet to even play a single game for the club since joining in a £10m deal.

Whilst there are certainly merits from a Spurs point of view in making a move for Willian, it would also have the consequence of having a detrimental effect on the first-team chances of Clarke.

The duo have predominantly played on the right-wing, and it would be difficult to see how Mourinho would leave someone like Willian (who would no doubt be a high-earner) on the bench, whilst playing Clarke. It just wouldn’t make financial sense at all.

If Spurs legitimately see Clarke as the future of their team on the flank, then completing a free transfer for Willian would simply make a mockery of that belief. It would pile yet more misery on the youngster who is already enduring a difficult campaign in football this year.

Meanwhile, this key backroom man must play a huge role for Spurs this summer.