Archie Gray’s only senior goal came via a deflection against Leicester City last season in a 3-1 Leeds United win at Elland Road, and on Monday night he made his debut for Tottenham against The Foxes.
The 18-year-old was the first of eight players to be sold by The 49ers this summer, joining Spurs for a fee of £40m. A deal that saw Leeds remove any concern in regards to breaking Profit & Sustainability Rules.
It became somewhat of a saga as Aston Villa initially held talks to sign England U21 international Gray a week prior to his move to Spurs. Gray then travelled to London to initially undergo a Brentford medical.
But he ended up at Tottenham, a move which Leeds preferred as they felt fans would understand more because of the size of Spurs compared to Brentford. And of course, it allowed Leeds to sign Joe Rodon.
Gray makes Tottenham debut against Leicester on Monday night
The Thorp Arch academy product came off the bench for Spurs on 78 minutes after Jamie Vardy had cancelled out Pedro Porro’s opener. The youngster could not help Tottenham find a winner, drawing 1-1.
His debut in front of the cameras came at exactly the same time as Brighton’s announcement over a deal to sign Georginio Rutter and Leeds fans underlined their frustration at Gray’s debut and Rutter going.
Others were simply emotional seeing a player with family ties to Leeds turning out for a different club, while some could not believe their eyes as Gray shared a pitch with Djed Spence in the Premier League.
Time to use the cash received for Gray and other Leeds players
Gray’s exit has seen Leeds receive a third of the £120m raked in from player exits, albeit £10m of that figure was used on defender Joe Rodon. It is time for The 49ers to start wielding that big pile of cash.
Daniel Farke has made it clear he would like four new signings. A new full-back, a midfielder able to contribute to the attack from deep and replacements for both Rutter and Crysencio Summerville.
Plenty of players are being linked but with 10 days to go until the 11.30PM deadline on August 30, plenty of work is to be done and fans will only be appeased if the club can make some new signings sharpish.
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