TWTD understands Town are closing in on the permanent signing of Arsenal defender Harry Clarke, the one-time Blues academy schoolboy, who is currently on loan at Stoke City.

The deal looks set to be confirmed today after the Potters loan is cut short with the Blues believed to be paying a fee of around £1 million for the 21-year-old.

Clarke left the Blues for the Gunners youth set-up in August 2015 having previously been the scorer of the U14s’ Barcelona-esque goal which went viral.

Born in Ipswich, Clarke was with Brantham Athletic prior to joining Town’s academy. At the time he was a forward but now operates as either a centre-half or right-back.

In 2020 he joined Oldham Athletic on loan for the campaign, then spent the first half of the following season in Scotland with Ross County before subsequently joining Hibs in January.

This summer he moved to Stoke in the Championship where he has made 10 starts and 10 sub appearances, scoring twice.

Clarke, the younger brother of striker George Clarke who was with the Town academy during 2013/14, appears to be viewed as someone who can vie with Janoi Donacien for his role on the right-side of the defence.

Photo: Action Images

C_Jam_Blue added 18:01 - Jan 19 I did see that Donacian's contract runs out at the end of this season (with a 1 year option to extend) so I did wonder if that might have something to do with it, perhaps JD may be off at the end of this season.
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Linkboy13 added 18:07 - Jan 19 To say we are building a team for the championship is a bit ambitious. Although we are making some decent signings they've hardly been ripping it up in the championship. If we do get promoted there will be a lot of comings and goings in the summer.
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RobITFC added 18:08 - Jan 19 Just goes to show if we can get out of this league, spending in the Championship will go up to the next level to gets us to the Prem.
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therein61 added 18:11 - Jan 19 The owners(whatever your individual views are) are certainly backing the manager in his efforts to get us promoted and then more than hold our own with a very capable squad we are in a good position(could/should be better view wise) and we need to all pull together to give the boys the support needed to cross the line in the next few weeks C.O.Y.B.
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blues1 added 18:51 - Jan 19 Jimmy Juan. What are you on about? Just pointing out a fact. But hey. Some don't like facts I guess.
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DaGremloid added 19:04 - Jan 19 blues1 - Europablue was joking. It was a joke. Remember those?
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dieselmorris added 19:10 - Jan 19 just saying who has plymouth got to play saturday, hope he scores on his debut.
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Len_Brennan added 19:14 - Jan 19 blues1 - it was a joke & a decent one, but even on the facts part you miss the point, the sell on would come from the fact that Arsenal got him from us in the first place.
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philpott2 added 19:27 - Jan 19 Welcome back to ITFC young fella. People are talking about Donacien being the one who he is coming in to replace but I reckon it's more likely Vincent-Young, who seems to have fizzled out somewhat after a few false dawns (injuries no doubt haven't helped him). We've conceded a few goals when he has had to come on, and that side doesn't seem as strong as the left when Leigh comes on for Davis. Just seems more likely to me.

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WhoisJimmyJuan added 19:43 - Jan 19 I think the subsequent references to Europa Blue making a joke will answer your question Blues1. I too recognised it as a joke, and a good one at that. But you on the other hand simply couldn't resist being snide.
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RegencyBlue added 20:31 - Jan 19 We would not be paying £1 million for him to sit on the bench! My guess is JDs days as an automatic starter are numbered.
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blues1 added 21:06 - Jan 19 Len brennan. . If it was a joke, maybe he should heave put a smiley face at the end. Would have known then. I just read it differently than you.
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blues1 added 21:13 - Jan 19 Jimmyjuan And there u go. U clearly read my reply totally different than how it was intended. Just as I read europas post differently than others did. Was not being snide at all. Just read it as it was. And so replied with a,fact. But hey. Get off ur high horse. A,simple misunderstanding of his post, on my part.
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benji86 added 21:39 - Jan 19 Looks a good signing, hoping if he's competing for places with anyone it's Woolfenden. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but against Plymouth he looked great going forward, but defending was another story. Competition is good either way! COYB!
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BurleysGloryDays added 21:41 - Jan 19 I know little, I trust McKenna to the end - excited to see what this will do for us!
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Europablue added 23:19 - Jan 19 Well, it was a joke and it wasn't. If we put a sell-on clause of 10% in the contract and we are quoted 10 million, do we only have to pay 9 million because we are owed 1 million? As the fee was a compensation fee, I suppose there is no sell-on fee.
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