Leeds United sold over £140 million worth of players in the summer but it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses for those who moved on.
No club in world football made a higher profit in the transfer window than Leeds in the summer, with Chelsea the only club to generate more money through player sales.
The bulk of that cash came via the exits of Archie Gray (Tottenham) , Crysencio Summerville (West Ham) and Georginio Rutter (Brighton), all of whom earned moves to the Premier League.
Of that trio, only Rutter has managed to earn a start so far but he could not prevent the Seagulls from being held to a 0-0 draw by Ipswich Town at the weekend.
Gray and Summerville, meanwhile, have been limited to only substitute appearances, though the latter did get the whole second half in West Ham’s draw at Fulham on Saturday.
Jamie O’Hara blasts Tottenham’s £40m deal for Leeds’ Archie Gray
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gray is the one who has found it toughest for game time so far, as he has been an unused sub in each of Spurs’ last two matches.
It is likely his game time will increase when Spurs’ Europa League campaign starts, but a season sitting on the bench in the Premier League is not going to do his development any good.
Ultimately, Spurs opted to spend £40 million on a player with only one season of senior football under his belt, the majority of which was actually out of position.
Gray is currently behind the likes of Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and potentially even Lucas Bergvall for a place in that Spurs midfield three.
As such, it is hard to see where his game time is going to come from and speaking on talkSPORT, Jamie O’Hara has blasted his former club Spurs for spending £40 million on a Championship player in an attempt to strengthen.
He said: “Have we brought in top players? [Dominic] Solanke, one good season at Bournemouth. Hasn’t scored yet. He’s had one good season at Bournemouth and we signed him for £60million.
“Brennan Johnson [is a] good player, a young player, Nottingham Forest, done the business of Forest. We signed him for £50 million. He looks miles off it, miles off it. And then I look at him and go, Archie Gray, good player. He’s from Leeds. It’s a Championship player. And we signed [Wilson] Odobert from Burnley.”
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Gray needs time at Spurs, but PL is unforgiving
As an 18-year-old moving to an elite club Gray is going to need time to make an impact, but the Premier League simply isn’t a place for that.
After so long without a trophy, Spurs need success here and now and so Gray simply isn’t going to be handed a consistent run in the side to get up to speed.
Leeds fans lambasted the 49ers for agreeing to sell Gray to Brentford initially, but from the player’s perspective, it may have actually been the better move.
Gray would almost certainly have been an immediate starter at Brentford, who are also a club with considerably lower expectations.
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