It has been officially confirmed that Tottenham Hotspur teenager Archie Gray has won the award for young player of the year at the London Football Awards on Thursday evening.
Archie Gray recognised at the London Football Awards on Thursday
Having signed from Leeds United in the summer, it is safe to say this season has not gone as he would have imagined - for better or worse. Signed as a central midfielder, he has played pretty much anywhere but - left-back, right-back, centre-back in a four, centre-back in a three.
Although Spurs made the signing of Kevin Danso from RC Lens in the winter transfer window, the continued absences of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero, as well as Radu Dragusin suffering an ACL injury, and Ben Davies being in and out of fitness - means the youngster has had to continue filling in in the centre of defence.
We have seen a lot of youthfulness in Spurs' side this season, even aside from Gray - 18 year old (and now 19 years old) Lucas Bergvall has played a lot of minutes, 22 year old Pape Sarr, 21 year old Antonin Kinsky, 17 year old Mikey Moore - as well as 20 year old Dane Scarlett and 19 year old Oyidamola Ajayi scoring in the Europa League. Even Destiny Udogie and van de Ven are still pretty young, although they have been unavailable in large chunks.
It is a real shame for Gray. New England manager Thomas Tuchel has been to three Spurs games this year - Newcastle United at home, Everton away, and Manchester City at home. They have lost all three, with the 18-year old playing in defence, rather than having the chance to impress in midfield. This was summed up in the game at Everton, where everyone thought he would be playing in midfield, just to end up as part of a back three.
There is no doubt that playing in defence will serve him well in the future, but he must be getting pretty fed up of it now. To not have even one start in midfield is just so unfortunate. He has played just 30 minutes there all season, and both those games were all the way back in August - with two appearances off the bench in the Premier League.
However, considering how tough everything has been for him, you would say he has done a pretty commendable job this season - and it is great to see him get some recognition for that - acknowledgment like this will make things feel worth it.