Tottenham Hotspur recall on-loan striker Dane Scarlett, who has made just 12 appearances for Ipswich Town.
The 19-year-old joined the club at the end of the summer, when he was expected to compete with George Hirst, Freddie Ladapa and Kayden Jackson for a place in the starting line-up.
However, as he was involved at half-time in the Carabao Cup match against Fulham, he was not eligible to play for Town in that competition, which limited his minutes considerably.
In the end, he played less than two and a half hours in total off the bench, and Ange Postecoglou decided to recall him in the face of a number of injury problems. With Heung-Min Son also playing in the Asian Cup, the Australian selector will be short of players in attack.
Scarlett was left out of the City squad in the 4-0 defeat to Leeds United, but Kieran McKenna revealed after the game that a return to north London was inevitable.
Hirst injured his thigh muscle in last night’s 1-1 draw against Leicester City, leaving Ladapo and Jackson as the only healthy strikers in the first team. The Blues have been linked with the transfer of Jay Stansfield from Fulham, who is on loan at Birmingham City.
After promotion from League One, Ipswich signed him on a full-year deal and it seemed to be a great move for the 19-year-old, as he was promoted to the senior division after spending last season on loan at Portsmouth. Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna had previously spoken about Scarlett during his loan spell at Pompey, but unfortunately he didn’t get the regular game time the striker wanted with the Championship High-Flyers.
With the Tractor Boys already having a very composed squad after securing promotion to the English League Two in style, Scarlett was limited to 12 appearances off the bench as he was introduced late in the competition. His 45-minute appearance in Tottenham’s Carabao Cup relegation at the hands of Fulham also worked against him at Ipswich, as he was tied to two cup games at a time when he could potentially have started.
The Ipswich boss, who was not in the Ipswich squad for Saturday’s crucial clash against promotion-contending Leeds United, was asked about Scarlett’s absence at the post-match press conference. Revealing that talks had already taken place with Tottenham about the player, it seems likely that Scarlett’s stay in Suffolk will be cut short and he will return to N17 early.