Archie Gray will have hoped for more minutes in his first few months at Tottenham following a summer transfer from Leeds United. Spurs agreed a deal in the region of £40million to sign him with Joe Rodon, following a loan spell at Elland Road, heading the other way.
Excitement was high among Tottenham supporters following the addition of such a talent with his versatility quickly on display. During pre-season, Gray was required to play at centre-back and he looked very composed in a position he has rarely played in.
Since competitive action for the 2024/25 campaign began, Gray has mostly been utilised in the Europa League with most of those appearances coming at full-back. Central midfield is the 18-year-old's preferred position, but as mentioned above, being versatile enough to play in defence has resulted in him not featuring in that role as of yet.
The teenager is yet to start a Premier League game and has only played 41 minutes in that competition in comparison to the 360 he has been on the pitch for in European action. However, that could change significantly over the coming months.
On Monday it was confirmed by the FA that Rodrigo Bentancur will serve a seven-game ban for comments about teammate Son Heung-min. That suspension begins against Manchester City this Saturday, but he will be available to face Roma the following Thursday with his enforced absence only applying to domestic games.
As such, the chances of Gray finally being deployed in midfield have increased significantly. Yves Bissouma is likely still ahead of him in the pecking order and based on that will start at Etihad Stadium, but beyond that, Gray could overtake him in the thoughts of Postecoglou with a number of substitute appearances expected to arrive.
Given he has played limited games, talk of a return to Leeds in January has emerged as a possibility. Given Daniel Farke's admiration for Gray, and the fact regular minutes for the England Under-21 international could be provided, a short-term loan could benefit all parties.
However, given his value to Postecoglou as someone that can play in at least four positions, it is very unlikely that is sanctioned. The Spurs boss is also very clearly a big fan of Gray having delivered numerous positive verdicts on his performances over the last few months.
“I thought Archie Gray was brilliant today. We asked him to play two different positions and he just adapts and handles it,” he said after the 2-1 win against Ferencvaros at the start of October. Postecoglou also seems to love his relentless energy based on his response to Gray possibly picking up an injury against Qarabag.
"He didn't stop running, so it can't be that bad," he admitted after the 3-0 victory. Gray has also spoken very highly of his new boss after learning of what Postecoglou said of him so early into his career in north London. "I'm really grateful to have the manager we've got," said Gray.
"I'm a big fan of him. I'm grateful to have him here and to learn so much off him, it's a big opportunity for me. To hear stuff like that from him, it makes you trust yourself even more and have more confidence to go out there and be fearless. That's what he wants from us and hopefully we can go out and do that every game we're trusted to be in."
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