Nothing makes me smile like a good tale of Tottenham Hotspur rejecting a young player and the subsequent success of said player who goes on to become a hero in Claret and Blue. This one is a peach. When a former scout and highly regarded Tottenham Hotspur ex-manager opened up to The Athletic recently, it made my day.
Consultant Scout and former Manager for The Spuds, David Pleat, left his role at North London last summer and has been talking about some of the signings he helped secure, and, hilariously, the one he recommended but had his advice ignored.
Back in 2019 he made a recommendation to Spurs to go and sign a young talented English player at Hull City, one Jarrod Bowen. Tottenham chose to ignore his advice and selected Jack Clarke instead, then at Leeds United. The winger failed miserably to make any impact at Spurs and had to leave, drop down to the championship again and rebuild his career with Sunderland before finally making the PL grade and securing a move to Ipswich Town this Summer.
And as for Bowen – one of the many things we will thank David Moyes for: The Scotosaurus saw the latent talent in Jarrod Bowen and bought him from Hull to London Stadium in January 2020 for £17 million. Bowen of course has gone on to equal our club record for ‘goals scored in a season’ tally and has become an England regular and Club Captain. Good choice, Spurs, and thanks for ‘passing’ on our Hammers Hero. It’ll be the icing on the cake if he scores against Spurs this season.
(Image- Spursweb)