Daniel Farke has been nothing if not consistent in his messaging surrounding the potential breakout of Leeds United’s next big thing.
Just because Archie Gray made the step up from reserve-team football to the senior stage look pretty straightforward, an 18-year-old who started over 40 league matches in one season before joining Tottenham Hotspur for big money is the exception rather than the rule.
Put simply, teenagers as mature, as confident and as tactically flexibly as Gray do not come around every season.
So while sections of the Leeds United supporter have been clamouring for Farke to repeat the trick with another of the brightest young talents at Thorp Arch, the German knows that putting Charlie Crew, Sam Chambers or particularly Harry Gray in a similarly high-pressure situation risks undoing all the great work the club’s youth team coaches have done behind the scenes.
Too much, too soon is a very real thing, after all.
Daniel Farke has a plan for Harry Gray as Leeds United face Premier League interest
Charlie Crew impressed Daniel Farke in pre-season last year. But, while admitting that there are similarities between Crew and Gray, the Leeds boss green lit a loan move to fourth-tier Doncaster Rovers in January.
He has since made eight League Two appearances, relatively shielded from the glare of the microscope.
Sam Chambers made a first senior Leeds start in the FA Cup against Millwall and recently put pen to paper on a new three-year contract. Harry Gray, Archie’s 16-year-old sibling, is heading in the right direction too as he looks to continue the family tradition started by grandfather Frank and continued by uncle Eddie.
Given that he is not even old enough to take his first driving lessons, Farke is understandably cautious of raising expectations around the fourth member of the Gray family to don that famous white shirt.
Yet, with TBR Football reporting that Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham are circling around Harry Gray already – Spurs could reunite the brothers in North London much to the excitement of their fans – the comments Farke made just last week should provide a timely reminder, not that he should need it, about the benefits of staying put.
“With Harry Gray, before a player really makes his first step into the spotlight, I’m always careful about praising him too much,” Farke said coyly, albeit while confirming that the 16-year-old is currently being put through his paces alongside the likes of Joel Piroe, Dan James and Manor Solomon in the first-team.
“He’s with us and trains well and develops well. We are happy we have him. He’s in the category of Sam Chambers who can play an important part in our future.”
Gray likely to follow Sam Chambers in being offered senior Leeds deal
As things stand, Leeds cannot tie Gray down to a contract until he celebrates his 17th birthday in October. This leaves the door ajar for Arsenal, Newcastle and particularly Tottenham to make their move in the coming summer.
When Chambers committed his future to the Elland Road outfit a few weeks back, however, Farke provided a further indication as to the club’s long-term plans with their latest generation of wrinkle-free whizzkids.
A first-team emergence as rapid as Archie Gray may come around once or twice in a generation but, while Crew, Chambers and Harry may require a bit more patience, Farke clearly envisages a role for them going forward.
And for every Archie Gray – a regular already at Tottenham – there are countless Jack Clarke’s.
The bright young thing at Elland Road during the Marcelo Bielsa tenure, Clarke made a £10 million switch to Spurs but found himself back in the Championship with Sunderland having got lost amongst the churn at a Premier League giant.
“The new contract [we gave to Chambers] is not a gift. We believe he can play a major role for us in the future,” Farke said, comments which should resonate with Harry Gray’s helpfully Leeds-mad camp.
“It’s a cornerstone in our philosophy that we want to develop our own players.”
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