Daniel Farke has suggested that one Leeds United player has managed to convince him after he had some concerns about them at the start of the season.
As the business end of the campaign looms, Leeds find themselves second in the table and in a fantastic position to potentially go on and make an immediate return to the Premier League.
Remarkably, Archie Gray has played all but two of our Championship games so far this season. He was on the bench for both of those he did not feature in. And he has rarely been taken off by Daniel Farke along the way.
Daniel Farke lauds Archie Gray
The 17-year-old actually went into this season still awaiting his professional debut. But he has not looked out of place in this Leeds side.
Initially, Gray began the campaign in the middle of the park. But he has looked impressive at right-back. And he scored on Friday night after moving across to the left.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of Wednesday’s FA Cup tie with Chelsea, Farke noted that he has been really impressed with how the teenager has handled the demands of the Championship.
“Not yet, that’s right,” he said, when it was put to him that Gray has not had a problem with the amount of minutes he has got this season. “And this is quite impressive.
“I was a bit more careful in my judgement in the beginning of the season because you can’t just rely on a 17-year-old as a cornerstone in your team. And you can’t really predict how it would work out, in terms of his body, how he can handle the load, especially in the Championship in such a tough physical league.
“But he’s doing excellent. For that, my concerns that I had a bit at the beginning of the season have eased up a lot. Meanwhile, he’s showing that he’s capable of performing all three days. We’ll still be careful and whenever there’s a chance to give him a little rest and a little break, we are tempted to do this. But meanwhile, he has convinced all of us that he’s capable to handle the load and he looks physically really to be there now.”
Leeds youngster’s potential seems limitless right now
It is incredibly exciting to think about what levels Gray could go on to reach. Perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves, but the last player around his sort of age who dealt with such a prominent role in the Championship so comfortably was arguably Jude Bellingham.
It is too soon to say whether Gray can get near that level in the years to come. But he looks to be destined for the very top.
Hopefully he gets there while wearing a Leeds United kit.
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