The Guardian

Tottenham have completed the signing of Archie Gray from Leeds in a deal that takes Joe Rodon back to Elland Road.

Gray, 18, has attracted plenty of admirers thanks to an impressive breakout season and after Brentford were unable to get a transfer over the line it opened the door for Spurs. The England Under-21 international has signed a six-year deal after Tottenham agreed to pay between £25m and £30m and allowed Rodon to return to Leeds on a permanent basis after he spent the past season on loan there.

Leeds’s failure to secure promotion via the Championship playoffs in May put pressure on them to make at least one lucrative sale to comply with financial fair play rules.

“Whilst we understand that supporters will be hugely disappointed to lose such a homegrown talent, and a family name so synonymous with Leeds United, the move improves the club’s chance to compete for automatic promotion next season by increasing our ability to build a competitive squad within the league’s financial control regulations,” Leeds said. “Everyone at Leeds United is heartbroken to see one of our own depart.” They said Spurs had “met a release clause that was triggered by the club’s failure to get promoted at the first attempt”.

Gray flourished to become one of Leeds’s most valuable assets, making 52 appearances at right-back and in the centre of midfield. He made his league debut in August against Cardiff.

Gray is from a prestigious footballing family, with his great-uncle Eddie and father, Andy, former Leeds players. Archie won the Championship young player of the year award.

Chelsea were among other clubs to register an interest but Gray was convinced Tottenham were his best destination after talks with Ange Postecoglou and will get the chance to play in the Europa League.

Rodon signed for Spurs from Swansea in 2020 but played 24 times for the club before spending two seasons on loan, the first at Rennes and 23-24 with Leeds.

Tottenham have completed the signing of Archie Gray from Leeds in a deal that takes Joe Rodon back to Elland Road.

Gray, 18, has attracted plenty of admirers thanks to an impressive breakout season and after Brentford were unable to get a transfer over the line it opened the door for Spurs. The England Under-21 international has signed a six-year deal after Tottenham agreed to pay between £25m and £30m and allowed Rodon to return to Leeds on a permanent basis after he spent the past season on loan there.

Leeds’s failure to secure promotion via the Championship playoffs in May put pressure on them to make at least one lucrative sale to comply with financial fair play rules.

“Whilst we understand that supporters will be hugely disappointed to lose such a homegrown talent, and a family name so synonymous with Leeds United, the move improves the club’s chance to compete for automatic promotion next season by increasing our ability to build a competitive squad within the league’s financial control regulations,” Leeds said. “Everyone at Leeds United is heartbroken to see one of our own depart.” They said Spurs had “met a release clause that was triggered by the club’s failure to get promoted at the first attempt”.

Gray flourished to become one of Leeds’s most valuable assets, making 52 appearances at right-back and in the centre of midfield. He made his league debut in August against Cardiff.

Gray is from a prestigious footballing family, with his great-uncle Eddie and father, Andy, former Leeds players. Archie won the Championship young player of the year award.

Chelsea were among other clubs to register an interest but Gray was convinced Tottenham were his best destination after talks with Ange Postecoglou and will get the chance to play in the Europa League.

Rodon signed for Spurs from Swansea in 2020 but played 24 times for the club before spending two seasons on loan, the first at Rennes and 23-24 with Leeds.

Archie Gray’s £40m move from Leeds to Brentford has collapsed at the 11th hour after the two clubs failed to agree a mutually-satisfactory payment structure, leaving Tottenham as new favourites for the 18-year-old’s signature.

Gray arrived in west London on Saturday and was poised to undergo a medical at Brentford on Sunday after agreeing personal terms but has now returned to Yorkshire. While that represents good news for Leeds supporters, it seems almost certainly to be a temporary state of affairs as Spurs are understood to have now made their interest in Gray clear to Elland Road officials.

Although Daniel Farke, the Leeds manager, does not want to lose his precociously-gifted midfielder or right back, he recognises the club needs to raise funds in order to comply with financial fair play regulations. This dictated that Brentford’s offer of an initial £35m transfer, potentially rising to £40m, was taken so seriously by the Leeds board.

Gray, the great nephew of the still-adored former Leeds player and manager Eddie Gray, does not turn 19 until next March and made 52 appearances in all competitions last season as Farke’s side narrowly missed out on promotion to the top tier, losing last month’s Championship playoff final to Southampton. Gray been extensively scouted by a number of clubs across Europe, including with Chelsea believed to also be interested in him.

After joining Leeds’s academy at the age of eight, Gray has represented England junior teams at every age group level up to and including Under-21s, while also winning the 2023-24 Young Championship player of the season award.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have moved to avoid the possibility of a points deduction by agreeing to sell their 21-year-old homegrown midfielder Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest in a deal potentially rising to £35m. After selling their 19-year-old Gambia winger Yankuba Minteh to Brighton for £33m on Saturday, Newcastle, who could also sell the former England striker Callum Wilson to a Saudi Arabian pro-Leagbue club, have ensured they remain on the right sided of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability rules (PSR).

Newcastle negotiated to take Forest’s reserve goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos to St James’ Park as a makeweight in the deal for Anderson. The 30-year-old Greek international’s impending arrival suggests Martin Dubravka, Eddie Howe’s second-choice keeper, will depart Tyneside later this summer. Vlachodimos is Greece’s current first-choice and has been capped 42 by his country. He made nine appearances for Forest last season, conceding 19 goals.

Anderson, a former Newcastle youth captain, did not want to leave his boyhood club but it is believed he has been offered a near 50% increase in wages at the City Ground. Despite Howe’s reluctance to part with a gifted and versatile midfielder, Anderson’s impending departure almost certainly ensures that the Saudi Arabian-owned club can retain their much-covered leading players this summer, namely Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimarães and Anthony Gordon.

Son Heung-min has confirmed Rodrigo Bentancur has apologised for making a racist joke about him during a television interview in Uruguay, saying his Tottenham teammate had “made a mistake”.

The anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out said on Wednesday it had received a “significant number” of complaints regarding Bentancur’s comments, in which the midfielder appeared to say that South Korean people “all look the same”. Spurs said that they have been “providing assistance” to ensure that the 26-year-old Uruguayan is educated along with the rest of the squad in the club’s diversity, equality and inclusion objectives.

“We fully support that our captain Sonny feels that he can draw a line under the incident and that the team can focus on the new season ahead,” the club posted on X. “We are extremely proud of our diverse, global fanbase and playing squads. Discrimination of any kind has no place at our club, within our game or within wider society.”

Son said: “I’ve spoken with Lolo [Bentancur]. He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised. Lolo would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all. We’re past this, we’re united, and we will be back together in pre-season to fight for our club as one.”

Bentancur previously posted: “Sonny brother! I apologise to you for what happened, it was just a very bad joke.”

West Ham are mulling over whether to push ahead with a move for the former Tottenham left-back Ryan Sessegnon on a free transfer.

Sessegnon, a free agent after being released by Spurs, is looking for a new opportunity after a difficult spell with injuries. Fulham are interested in a reunion with the 24-year-old and there has also been initial contact from the Hammers.

Julen Lopetegui, West Ham’s new head coach, is keen to bring in competition for Emerson Palmieri at left-back. Aaron Cresswell, Emerson’s deputy, was a bit-part player last season and there is a view that Sessegnon could be a bargain.

Sessegnon, who is also capable of playing as a wing-back or left winger, was rated as one of the best young players in England when he left Fulham for Spurs in 2019. But he struggled to settle at Tottenham, in part because of fitness problems. Sessegnon made 38 league appearances in his five years at Spurs and featured in only one game after hamstring surgery last season.

West Ham would need to be convinced that Sessegnon, who played a role in Spurs qualifying for the Champions League under Antonio Conte in 2022, would be over his injury problems. Signing him would boost West Ham’s homegrown quota.

The Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has apologised to his teammate Son Heung-min after appearing to say that South Korean people “all look the same” on a TV programme in Uruguay.

In a short clip from Por La Camiseta, host Rafa Cotelo asks the Uruguay international for a Spurs player’s shirt. “Sonny’s?” replies Bentancur, before adding: “It could be Sonny’s cousin too … they all look the same.”

Bentancur’s remark quickly drew widespread condemnation after the clip was posted online earlier this week. The 26-year-old has now reached out on social media to apologise to his club captain for what he has called “a bad joke”.

“Sony [sic] brother! I apologise to you for what happened, it was just a very bad joke!” Bentancur wrote on his Instagram stories. “You know I love you and I would never disrespect you or hurt you or anyone else! I love you brother!”

Son, who played 90 minutes for South Korea as they beat China 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Seoul on Tuesday, has yet to respond publicly.

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