Not content with snatching Archie Gray, the apple of Leeds United fans’ eye, the Tottenham Hotspur faithful are now wondering how they could benefit from the desire to keep Manor Solomon at Elland Road.
A desire shared, it appears, by Leeds United and the player himself.
Manor Solomon has kept the door ajar for Leeds to sign him on a permanent basis this summer, on the back of an exceptional loan spell from the Premier League giants.
The swivelling, slaloming Solomon should end the campaign with double digits in both the goals and assists column, while becoming arguably the most popular Elland Road loanee since Ben White in that promotion-winning season under Marcelo Bielsa.
Solomon dreams of playing Premier League football again, meanwhile, his spells at Fulham and Tottenham interrupted by injury. With Leeds now having a 95.3 per cent chance of promotion – at least, according to those Opta number crunchers – he can do just that without having to pack up his belongings and search for another new home away from West Yorkshire.
Tottenham Hotspur loanee Manor Solomon keen to stay at Leeds United
“In my mind, I want to get back to the Premier League where I belong,” Solomon said recently. “That is my goal. I understood that the best way to get back to myself and get back to the Premier League is to go to Leeds.
“A club like Leeds, I think, must get into the Premier League. And that’s a very, very big goal for the team and for me. It’s something that I really, really want. I really, really want to get to the Premier League.
“It’s a big goal. So I’m trying to help as much as I can so that we can get to the Premier League, because I really want it.”
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Talking about what people ‘really want’, it seems that the Tottenham Hotspur faithful are pretty keen to get their mitts on one of Leeds’ rising stars in a possible exchange deal which would see Solomon stay at Elland Road.
Charmed by the versatility, maturity and technical qualities of Archie Gray – a bright spark in a poor season for Spurs – the emergence of his younger brother in the Leeds academy has not gone unnoticed.
Harry Gray scored a brace as Leeds’ U18s beat Derby County last weekend. A 16-year-old who plays as a centre-forward – perhaps the only position his older sibling is yet to be utilised in at senior level – one-time Leeds prospect and former Tottenham stalwart Aaron Lennon could not speak highly enough of Harry Gray when highlighting the teenager’s ‘frightening’ potential.
“I don’t want to talk about him too much because I think everyone will want him, he’s that good!” Lennon quipped. “He’s probably the best thing I’ve seen in years.”
With Leeds looking to strike a deal to keep hold of Solomon, then, this is all the motivation the Spurs faithful need to encourage a move that would see the Gray brothers reunited down south.
Spurs fans sense a Harry Gray chance amid Solomon uncertainty
“I’m sure something like Harry Gray plus £10 million will end up being the deal as the two clubs continue to developed the relationship,” one hopeful supporter writes on X.
“Swap him with Harry Gray,” says another, while one parrots; “Swap him with Archie’s brother.”
“Shame because I really like him. But, if we could get a deal with Harry Gray, that would be good”
“Solomon plus money = Harry Gray please,” one supporter adds, perhaps more in hope than expectation.
At this stage, Tottenham’s demands for Solomon remain a mystery. If Harry Gray’s name is brought up in the discussions, however, Leeds will face a dilemma between protecting their future and enhancing their present.