Former Arsenal academy defender Harry Clarke is pushing to restart his playing career with a loan move to Charlton Athletic, the club have confirmed.
Former Gunner Harry Clarke joined Ipswich Town in a permanent transfer back in 2023, and at the time he was joining a club on the way up. Ipswich quickly secured back-to-back promotions to reach the Premier League, only to suffer relegation the next year.
By the time Ipswich’s fate was sealed, Clarke had already moved out on loan to Sheffield United. The young defender had struggled with an injury in the first half of 2024/25, and he hadn’t found it easy to get consistent minutes after returning to fitness.
But the move to Sheffield didn’t go much better, with two serious injuries keeping Clarke out for over a month in March and then ending his loan in mid-April.
Clarke’s only appearances this season have been for the Ipswich Town youth teams, as the 24-year-old looks to get himself back to full fitness.
The good news is that he’ll now get the chance to build up his minutes in first-team football, with Charlton Athletic announcing that they’ve signed the defender on a loan move until the end of the season.
“We’re delighted to bring a player of Harry’s calibre to the football club,” Charlton boss Nathan Jones said.
“He’s an athletic, versatile defender with good experience for his age, and he’s already had real success at this level having starred in Ipswich’s promotion to the Premier League.”
“The main thing for me was the manager,” Clarke said of the transfer. “I spoke to him and I got that feeling of being really wanted at a place straight away. Not many teams have come to Portman Road this season and won convincingly which Charlton did, so they’re the appealing factors.”
With Charlton battling for safety towards the bottom of the Championship, Clarke will hope for consistent minutes across the remainder of the campaign.
Then with Ipswich currently third in the table with a game in hand, he may well return to find his parent club back in the Premier League.