Tottenham Hotspur has officially won the race to sign Archie Gray from Leeds United. The 18-year-old phenom is one of the top teenage prospects in all of England. Fellow Premier League side Brentford wanted to secure Gray’s signature late last week. The youngster even started a medical at the team’s facility. Nevertheless, Leeds ultimately rejected the offer due to the structure of payments. Spurs then quickly swooped in to finalize an agreement with the Whites.
The north London club will pay Leeds about $38 million for the versatile youngster. There is, however, an additional piece of the puzzle in the deal. Along with receiving Gray, Spurs is also sending Joe Rodon to Leeds for around $13 million. The Welsh center-back previously spent the most recent season on loan at the Whites.
The transactions, despite being simultaneous moves, are separate deals. Several English teams have used this tactic in recent weeks to help ease issues regarding profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
Clubs selling highly-rated youngsters use the entire fee as pure profit. Nevertheless, clubs can amortize incoming player purchases over a maximum of five years. As a result, these deals help clubs balance the books.
While Spurs are not thought to have severe PSR worries, Leeds do. The Championship side’s failure to earn a quick promotion back to the Premier League in May had significant financial repercussions. Selling Gray is certainly seen as an unpopular move by both the club and their fans. Leeds officials claimed to be “heartbroken” over selling the budding star in their official statement. The club, however, was essentially forced to make the move.
Leeds has reason to feel this way. Gray excelled in his first full senior season during the 2023/24 campaign. Despite his age, the youngster played in 52 total matches for the Whites on the season. While he is considered a central midfielder, Gray featured heavily at right back under manager Daniel Farke last season. This was mostly due to injury issues at the position. However, the versatile teen also recently played the position at the international level as well.
There are suggestions that Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou could utilize Gray as an inverted full-back. Philipp Lahm and Joao Cancelo popularized this new-era tactic with Pep Guardiola. At the same time, Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool, and Oleksandr Zinchenko at Arsenal occupy that role. Postecoglou previously deployed Josip Juranovic in the position at Celtic.
Moving a fullback to midfield essentially creates an advantage by providing an overload in the middle of the pitch. Teams that tend to dominate possession benefit from the tactic by having an extra passer in central midfield. It can, in turn, also help a club ease opposing pressure.
Gray informed Spurs fans on Tuesday that while he considers himself a midfielder, he is open to utilizing his versatility to get game time. “I see myself as a midfielder,” the teen told his new club’s official website. “That is my ideal position, but I don’t put myself down to one position as I am a versatile player.”
“That is effective when you have so many games and competitions. I am not bothered about where I am going to play. I am just going to give 100%.”
Splashing so much cash on a teen prospect is undoubtedly a risky call. Nevertheless, Gray is due for Premier League stardom. It remains unclear how much playing time the youngster will have. Despite the massive fee, the Spurs manager should not rush things with the highly-rated prospect.
PHOTOS: IMAGO
