‘Fantastic’: Jermaine Beckford says Leeds United now have a player who can go to the ‘very top’

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Jermaine Beckford believes Leeds United midfielder Archie Gray has the potential to go to the ‘very top’.

Beckford was speaking on Sky Sports ahead of Leeds‘ 1-0 win away at Leicester City last night, where he was full of praise for Gray before the match had even started.

Having been handed a rest in the 4-1 victory over Huddersfield Town seven days ago, Gray was recalled back into the starting XI at right-back in place of the injured Jamie Shackleton.

The 17-year-old was making already his 12th start of the Championship season, in what has been a breakthrough campaign for the boyhood Leeds fan.

Having started the season in central midfield, Gray has made his last four appearances at right-back with Djed Spence still injured and Luke Ayling seemingly out of favour under Daniel Farke.

Beckford believes Leeds’ Gray can go to ‘very top’

Beckford believes that for someone as young as Gray to come in and look like a ‘seasoned pro’ across two positions means he has the potential to go to the ‘very top’.

He said: “He’s been fantastic. This has been a breakout season for him. He’s very confident, very comfortable on the ball. At such a young age, 17, he plays like he is a seasoned pro that has been playing for many years.

“He had an opportunity at the beginning of the season to play in central midfield and he played fantastically well. There were one or two injuries at the start of the season, which led to him playing games in the right back position and for the most part he’s been nothing short of excellent.

“He has filled the gaps in, not looked out of sorts, he’s defended really well. Look, you’re talking about a 17-year-old who has been in the first-team and doesn’t look out of place. With two, three or four years under his belt the very top is the limit.”

Clearly a decent period of rest for Gray did him the world of good as he again looked really solid out of position after a couple of difficult matches at Norwich and Stoke City.

Gray was up against one of the most in-form wingers in the division in Stephy Mavididi and aside from a couple of times in the first half, barely gave him a sniff.

Once Spence returns, Gray will be able to return to his favourite position of central midfield and compete for a starting spot against Glen Kamara, Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev.