Many expected Jayden Clarke to depart Gillingham on loan ahead of the National League transfer deadline yesterday however, despite interest the winger remained at Priestfield.
Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with Gillingham Head of Recruitment Andy Hessenthaler. We discussed an array of different topics which you will hear more about in the coming days. However one of the key points of discussion was young winger Jayden Clarke.
Clarke joined the Gills in the January transfer window from National League South side Dulwich Hamlet, after catching the eye of the new-look Gillingham backroom team and manager Neil Harris. However, he is yet to make a first-team appearance in the league and many expected the winger to depart the Gills on loan to get some minutes down in the National League ahead of next season.
But to the surprise of the Gillingham faithful, the winger stayed at Priestfield. Here’s what Andy Hessenthaler had to say when questioned about why Jayden remained at the club despite the interest.
“Well Jayden’s one of the ones, along with Kenny. I almost sourced him because he played against us at Dover, for Dulwich I liked him and a lot of people were talking about him.”
“We was able to bring him it, and he’s a topic of conversation to be fair between myself, the manager and Kenny, he was close to going out (on loan) and we had a number of clubs that would have taken him but he’s training really well, he’s so close to the first team”
“We wanted to keep him in the group as much as he hasn’t been out there yet, we believe he will be (in the first team) and Neil’s pretty much said that he will get in the juice (squad) this season and I’d love the fans to see him, he’s different to what we’ve got, he’s got pace and I think we do lack bit of pace in our squad which is something we need to address”
“I think he’s one of those players that when we introduce him this season, I’d like to think they will and I’d be surprised if the fans don’t love him when he gets his chance”
“Me, Neil and Kenny all say he’s got a bright future, we didn’t let him out (on loan) he’s been playing a lot of games behind closed doors and training with the boys (first team) and he will get his chance”
High praise from Hessenthaler there, seemingly a player Gills fans can expect to see a little bit more of towards the end of the season and in seasons to come.
Writers View
Jayden is a player that I’ve seen a lot of over the years and he has a very bright future ahead of him, I certainly look forward to seeing him in a Gills shirt very soon.
For Gills fans that haven’t seen him, he reminds me a lot of Myles Weston, lots of pace and a willingness to commit players.
He is certainly the type of player that will get fans up on their feet and the type of player that the Priestfield faithful are crying out for.
Once again I would like to say thank you to Andy for taking my questions today and I look forward to sharing more from our conversations over the coming days.
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