Will we ever see Matt Clarke in a Brighton shirt?

Quick quiz question for you – who was Graham Potter’s first signing as Albion boss? Five points if you know it was Matt Clarke, who Brighton purchased from Portsmouth for £3.5 million in the summer of 2019.

You can be easily forgiven if you have forgotten about the existence of Clarke. He has made only one appearance in an Albion shirt, captaining a young side to a 1-0 pre-season friendly victory over Crawley Town in Potter’s first game in charge on English soil.

Shortly after the victory at the Checkatrade Checkatrade Checkatrade.com Stadium, Clarke was sent on loan to Derby County for the 2019-20 campaign.

It seemed as though he was following Brighton’s established development pathway for young players of gaining experience at each level of the Football League in preparation for a crack at the top flight.

Where Ben White had ticked off Newport County and Peterborough United before joining 1996 Coca Cola Cup runners up The Leeds United, Clark had gone through League Two and League One with Pompey.

A season at Derby at the same time as White was at Elland Road looked like it was with a view to getting Clarke involved in the Premier League for 2020-21.

Whilst White took all the headlines for his performances at The Leeds United, Clarke was nearly as impressive in his year at Pride Park. Clarke won Derby’s 2019-20 Player of the Season award as the Rams finished six points away from a Championship playoff spot.

Many assumed that Clarke would join White in Brighton’s first team squad last season. Instead, he was packed off to Derby again. Financial turmoil engulfed the club and they only avoided relegation into League One on the final day of the campaign.

Brighton had barely returned to pre-season training for 2021-22 when Matt Clarke was sent out on his third loan in as many years, this time to West Bromwich Albion.

81 appearances in two seasons for Derby has still not been enough to convince Potter that Clarke is ready for the Premier League, even with an opening in defence from White’s £50 million move to Arsenal which is expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Judging by the fact that Leo Ostigard remains at the Amex, it would appear that he has now overtaken Clarke in the pecking order. Ostigard had an impressive Championship season of his own last time out on loan at Coventry City.

So, will we ever see Matt Clarke in a Brighton shirt in a competitive game? He has proven himself in the second tier and yet still Potter does not even seem inclined to give him a look.

Clarke turns 25 in September. He will soon be approaching the peak of his powers. It cannot be good for his career to be farmed out to a new club every season, knowing that come next summer he will again face the uncertainty of not knowing where he will be playing his football for the year ahead.

Following Clarke’s one and only Albion appearance in that Crawley friendly, we wrote the following about him:

“Although nobody should get carried away with a strong performance against a side who will probably struggle in League Two this season, Clarke was head and shoulders above anybody else on the pitch.”

“He looked extremely comfortable on the ball, was always in the right position and led a young side excellently. At £3.5 milliom, he looks like a fine acquisition who will almost certainly be third choice centre back ahead of Dan Burn and Leon Balogun should Lewis Dunk not leave the club this summer. If Dunk does go, then we may have a ready made replacement already.”

Adam Webster’s arrival for £18 million, Dunk remaining at the Amex and Potter’s trust in Burn changed all that. But even so, Clarke looked like he was tailor-made for a long and successful Brighton career. And yet here we are two years later having seen neither hide nor hair or him in blue and white.

One theory is that Brighton are holding onto Clarke rather than allowing him to leave permanently as an insurance option in the event of relegation.

Dunk, Webster and Joel Veltman would all be off should the Albion go down. If Ostigard ends up making the grade in the Premier League, he too might have several suitors willing to keep him in the top flight.

Brighton would suddenly look very light in the centre back department. The departure of three or four defenders would be lessened if the Albion could easily replace them with proven Championship performers, like Clarke and to a lesser extent Shane Duffy if he recovers from that disastrous spell at Celtic.

Clarke himself might be able to force a permanent exit. If he helps West Brom win promotion, then the Baggies would surely be inclined to put in a bid to keep him at the Hawthorns in the Premier League.

Aston Villa forked out £26.5 million for Tyrone Mings after he starred on loan from Plucky Little Bournemouth in their 2018-19 campaign which ended with victory in the play off final.

Any fee that West Brom would be willing to pay would presumably result in a significant profit on the £3.5 million Clarke cost, even with him entering the final year of his Albion contract next summer.

Clarke of course would not be the first young player signed by Brighton to never make a Premier League appearance before being sold for a profit.

It very much appears to be the Albion’s business model these days, although nobody else has gone through three loan spells in the same division.

Does that mean Clarke still has a future at Brighton? Who knows. We will simply have to wait and see whilst keeping an eye on how he does at West Brom. Based on what has happened at Derby in the past two seasons, that should be quite well.