Michael O'Neill has stated that Stoke City could look to bring Jack Clarke back to the club next season.
Signed on loan from Tottenham in January after only making three appearances in the Europa League and FA Cup, the winger has featured regularly for the Potters since his move to Staffordshire.
Having suffered frustrating loan spells at Leeds United and QPR last term, the 20-year-old has now got more minutes under his belt than in his previous two moves after starting four games and coming off the bench six times.
Opening up on the player's recent spell on the bench, the ex-Northern Ireland manager dropped a hint over the possibility of a longer deal for Clarke in 2021/22.
"Jack is a young player we brought to the club and he’s been involved in every game essentially," said O'Neill, as reported by Stoke-on-Trent Live.
"He came out of the team after Norwich and the team won the next two games so he had to be patient. He came into both those games off the bench. On Saturday we changed the system so that was tactical.
"We’ve been pleased with what Jack’s contribution has been. There are areas he has to improve on still but he’s a very talented young player.
"In terms of being out on loan, he’s played more minutes than he has on previous loans so he’s still adapting a little bit.
"But he’s a young player we’re looking at between now and the end of the season to have an impact because you’d like to think that was a situation we could revisit next year on a longer-term basis.
"Jack just has to be patient and when he does get an opportunity make sure he does enough to stay in the team or force me to start him in the next game."
On the bench in Stoke's last four games, Clarke will be hoping to return to the team on Wednesday evening with high-flying Swansea City making the trip to the bet365 Stadium.
