Tottenham disregarded former scout David Pleat’s recommendation to sign Jarrod Bowen back in 2019.
The North London club acquired the services of Jack Clarke from Leeds United in 2019 just 12 months after he got promoted to their first team. While he was considered to be a huge prospect for the future, the English winger hasn’t reached the expected levels. While signing Clarke, Tottenham ended up ignoring David Pleat’s suggestion to sign Jarrod Bowen who was a part of Hull City back in the day.
Alasdair Gold has talked about how the North London club ignored their former scout’s suggestion and ended up missing out on the services of the England international who is currently the West Ham United skipper.
While speaking on the Gold and Guest podcast, the Gold said via GIVEMESPORT: “David Pleat, he’s recommended some good players over the years. I think Dele was a big one of David Pleat’s, and I certainly know of a few situations over the years where Spurs went in a different direction to the player that David Pleat told them to go for, and the player that he told them was the better option.
“I’m not going to name loads because otherwise it looks really rubbish, but one of them, I’m pretty sure, when they signed Jack Clarke, that David Pleat was suggesting Jarrod Bowen.
“Obviously, Jarrod Bowen has gone on to be a very effective Premier League player. Jack Clarke still could, now at Ipswich Town, but when you looked back it kind of seemed like one was the more obvious deal.”
Pleat had earned a reputation for identifying players with huge potential from the lower divisions in England and he was quite certain about Bowen’s abilities. But, Tottenham chiefs ignored his advice and invested in Clarke who only featured in four matches for their first team and was subject to multiple loan spells before leaving the club in the summer of 2022.
They ended up missing out on the services of Bowen who made the move to the Hammers in the winter of 2020 and hasn’t looked back since. The 27-year-old right-winger has scored 51 goals in the last three seasons and has established himself as one of the most important players in their first team.
Bowen could have been an exceptional signing for the North London club but they disregarded their scout’s advice and missed out on a star winger who has made quite a name for himself with his consistent performances in the Premier League.
