Archie Gray is set to join Tottenham Hotspur from Leeds United, following tenuous links with interest from Arsenal.
David Ornstein of The Athletic reports that Tottenham Hotspur are nearing an agreement to sign Archie Gray from Leeds United, with the club set to pay £40m.
Joe Rodon is heading the other way for £10m, and Spurs’ view is reportedly that it’s effectively a swap deal, with Gray joining for £25-30m plus Rodon.
Leeds claim the deals are separate, as is becoming increasingly common this week. Various clubs are looking to circumvent Profit and Sustainability Rules using seemingly-inflated deals that net off against each other.
Gray has already completed his medical ahead of the Spurs move, and he’ll sign a six-year contract later on Monday.
The Rodon deal, which is definitely a completely separate transaction, is slightly holding up the unrelated Gray transfer, as Rodon is currently in Las Vegas.
This is all relevant to Arsenal because Simon Jones of the Daily Mail had claimed last week that Arsenal, Chelsea, and Spurs were all interested in Gray.
The links never got any more substantial than that, with the Mail the only outlet claiming the Gunners were interested.
Coincidentally, Arsenal already had a player called Archie Gray many years ago. Arsenal’s Gray joined the club in 1904, playing in the club’s first-ever game in the top flight and spending the next five seasons with the Gunners.
It looks like Leeds’ Gray is set to represent the other north London club instead.