Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou admits he loves watching Archie Gray and his fellow Spurs youngsters in training, and says the former Leeds United star behaves like a more senior player.
Leeds academy graduate Gray was the first of a number of big-money departures from Elland Road this summer, with the 18-year-old the subject of plenty of interest following a breakthrough season under Daniel Farke. Spurs won the race for his signature, with Gray joining youngsters Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert in Postecoglou's first-team plans.
It's a big step up for the Leeds fan favourite, and he has naturally had less gametime so far with Tottenham as he settles into life in the Premier League. But Postecoglou has been impressed with his attitude in training, and will continue to give him chances to show what he can do on the pitch.
"What I'm trying to do, which is what I've done wherever I've been irrespective of my tenure, is build teams that are going to be challenging over a course of time," said Postecoglou. "All teams that do that seem to grow together, so you need that element of youth for it to come to fruition as you go along.
"It has to be a combination of both. When do you hit the sweet spot when you have enough experience in the building? That's hopefully when it all goes together, and when the experienced players come to the end of a cycle, you've got the rest coming through. I've always done it and it's a balancing act.
"I'm really excited about the young players we've brought in and the ones who are coming in, and look, another manager might be the beneficiary of them, I don't know. But in the course of time they're going to be really good footballers and make an impact. They'll only develop if they play, so we've got to give them the opportunity to play.
"The three we've brought in, with Mikey [Moore] and young Will Lankshear as well, Wilson, Archie, Lucas, I just love watching them in training at the moment. They want to play, they want to make an impact. They don't look or behave like 18, 19-year-olds. Which is great for me. When they're 21, they're hopefully going to be flying and it's part of our responsibility to develop them. If you want to have a successful period, you can't just bring in experienced players to have one hit at success."
Spurs have perhaps had a slower start than some fans would have expected, but Postecoglou has encouraged Gray and other youngsters at the club to learn from more experienced members of the squad, and play without fear.
"It's always great to break stereotypes," he added. "You definitely need the experience. Having winners in the group helps that process because when a young guy comes in, if he's got somebody there who's already won things, he kind of learns the behaviours so you do need both. But I've always liked the fearlessness and naivety of young players. They haven't felt the pain of losing something. I like the fact that they're a little bit fearless."