Archie Gray has admitted that he had no doubts about moving to Tottenham Hotspur this summer as soon as the North London side came calling for him.
Gray had an outstanding 2023-24 campaign at Leeds after breaking into his boyhood club’s first-team at the start of the season and it did not take long for him to establish a reputation as one of the best young players in the EFL.
There is plenty of excitement at Spurs about the impact that the 18-year-old can have this season, with the signing being seen as a real coup by many in the game, even though the Lilywhites had to part ways with £40m to bring him through the door.
The teenager has now explained his decision to sign with Tottenham, revealing that both his father and his grandfather, who both played at the highest level, wanted him to make the switch to N17.
Gray told Football.London: “At the start of the window I didn’t really know anything about [a potential transfer anywhere] and I was content to stay at Leeds, but as soon as I heard Tottenham were coming in I was like ‘I need to go there’.
“It’s a huge club and my dad said that too. He came to my room one morning and said ‘look, you’ve got to go to Spurs. It’s a massive club’.
“My grandad was saying it as well, he’s obviously done pretty well in his career, and he said at some point you’ve got to go to one of the biggest clubs in England and he thinks now is the right time and he thinks Spurs is a massive club as well.
“So, with people who have been advising me my whole life, I have to listen to them and I also wanted to do it too, so that was definitely a massive thing and since then I’ve enjoyed every second of it. So, definitely happy that I made that decision.”
Gray admitted that the conversation he had with Postecoglou this summer also played a pivotal role in his decision to sign for the Premier League giants.
The youngster revealed that he has followed the Spurs boss’ career closely since he has a soft spot for Celtic.
When asked about his talk with the Aussie coach, the midfielder said: “It was just really positive and most of it was football, but he was getting to know what I was like as a person.
“Hopefully, I came across really well but it’s a massive factor that the manager’s here and I’ve been following him for a while, since he was at Celtic and one of my U21 managers went to the Australian league so even since then I’ve been following him so, yeah, he’s a massive factor.
“Obviously, I’ve got a Leeds family and I support them too, but yeah my grandad and dad played for Scotland and supported Celtic. When Ange was there I enjoyed watching them and I still do now.”
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Gray would have felt that his development would be best served by playing under a coach like Ange, who has a track record of trusting young players and giving them the freedom needed to express themselves.
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