Archie Gray’s breakthrough season at Leeds United is already drawing comparisons to Jude Bellingham.
Bellingham actually played his debut year for Birmingham City as a 16-year-old but the two share plenty of similarities, having both progressed through the ranks of their boyhood clubs.
The now Real Madrid star established himself as a regular at Birmingham during the 2019/20 season. In fact, it was the only year he played for the Blues before joining Borussia Dortmund the following summer.
However, Gray has managed to achieve something in the Championship at Leeds that even Bellingham could not manage, which is hopefully a sign of where his career is heading.
Gray has now surpassed the number of minutes Bellingham played at Championship level before turning 18. Only former Fulham player Ryan Sessegnon is now higher.
Gray surpasses Bellingham minutes
Bellingham played 2694 minutes for Blues during his solitary season in the first team, with Friday’s 3-1 win over Leicester City having taken Gray passed that on 2707.
Gray, of course, scored his first ever professional goal in that game against the Foxes, netting a dramatic late deflected goal to complete an incredible quickfire turnaround.
Those minutes so early in Bellingham’s career at Birmingham have clearly been a huge helping hand as he is now 20 and already one of the best players in the world, since moving to Real Madrid.
Though at Madrid he has played more advanced, Bellingham was more of a box-to-box midfielder at Birmingham and Dortmund, which is the position Gray sees himself long-term.
If Gray can get close to emulating the trajectory Bellingham has taken over the last few years Leeds will have a scarily good prospect on their hands. Hopefully it is at Elland Road where he does it.
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