Arsenal have confirmed that Omar Rekik and Harry Clarke will spend next season on loan at Sparta Rotterdam and Stoke City respectively.
Rekik moves to Holland, the country of his birth, to get valuable playing time as he looks to consolidate a place in Tunisia’s squad for the upcoming World Cup. It’s been reported that he will be guaranteed playing time at senior level, something he’s struggled for at the Emirates.
On completing the signing, Rotterdam’s technical director Gerard Nijkamp told his club’s official website: “Omar is well regarded as a talent at Arsenal, but it is not easy to break through there. He trained with the first team, but it is important for his development to make minutes at the highest level, a chance that is greater at Sparta.
“Omar is a central defender who is strong in football, but also leads the way in battle and does not shy away from duels. There was a lot of competition to attract him, but we are happy that he chose Sparta.”
Clarke moves to Stoke after a year in Scotland’s SPL. He started the 2021/22 campaign with Ross County and finished it with Hibernian after securing a move in January.
The right-back was recalled from Easter Road earlier in the week so that he could complete his move to the Bet365 Stadium. He is clearly excited about the prospect of playing in England’s second tier.
“It feels unreal coming to a club like this,” he told Stoke’s official website.
“It’s been a dream to play in the Championship for a while now so it’s good that it’s finally over the line.
“Obviously we had to deal with leaving Hibs, which had to be done the right way, but I’ve been excited about it ever since I heard about it.
“I see Stoke City as a Premier League club like a lot of people do. I want to be part of something special here this year, getting the Club back to where they belong.”
Best of luck to both lads for the season ahead. We hope Clarke excels but that Stoke are relegated into oblivion.
Fantastic that both will have the chance to progress. Looking forward to them coming back and challenging for the first team, sooner than later.
Can I just say I’ve recently finished listening to the arsecast and the squad building discussions were utterly fascinating and really changed my thoughts on player acquisition.
So interesting to hear of the differing characteristics of individual players changing our shape and freeing up other players to play different roles.
Thanks guys. A real beauty this week.
“I see Stoke as a Premier League club…”, he says while the Stoke press officer presses a gun to his head.
If you had been sentenced to Mordor for a year, would you dare say anything that might upset them?
Hahahaha
😄
Please Harry, stay an Arsenal elf. Don’t return as a Stoke orch.
Clarke’s agent is like gunnerblog’s sexy doppelganger
That’s Rekik in the photo in Sparta Rotterdam colours, not Clarke going to Stoke, and Sexy James is their technical director Gerard Nijkamp
The last sentence in the last paragraph got me chuckling. Here’s wishing the lads all the best.