Ipswich Town head coach Kieran McKenna has revealed that the club are set to lose attacking starlet Dane Scarlett in January as Tottenham Hotspur are looking to recall the youngster from his loan spell.
Scarlett moved to Portman Road at the beginning of the campaign on a season-long loan but has had little impact on Ipswich’s success so far this season, having seen just 147 minutes in the Championship in total which has been spread across 12 appearances.
Furthermore, the Spurs academy product has yet to score a single goal for the club in all competitions and has yet to start a single match under McKenna since arriving at the club in the summer.
Now, in his pre-match press conference ahead of the side’s huge clash with Leicester City, the Northern Irish head coach has admitted that Spurs are looking to recall Scarlett in January due to injury issues in the London club’s attacking department [quotes via The Spurs Web]:
“There are conversations with Tottenham at the moment. I think it looks very likely that he’ll be recalled.
“Tottenham have injury issues at the moment and they have their main forward [Son Heung-min] going to the Asian Cup at the start of January as well.
“So there have been discussions over the last few days and there’s a fair chance that he’ll be recalled from the start of January.”
Scarlett was a massive prospect when he came through Tottenham’s academy a few years back, with legendary manager Jose Mourinho even describing the young attacker as a “diamond”.
According to Salary Sport, Scarlett is currently on £12k-per-week, although it’s unclear how much of the striker’s wages Ipswich Town are paying compared to his parent club.
Writer’s View
This is the right move for all parties. Scarlett is receiving little to no game time at Portman Road which will only hinder his development in the long run as the teenager needs consistent minutes right now.
McKenna has declared that Spurs’ reasoning to recall him is because of Spurs’ injury issues. However, the likelihood is that the club will do so because of his lack of involvement with the Tractor Boys.
Deputy Head of Writing
