Leeds Live

Leeds United may be on alert to an old transfer avenue opening up again - the possibility of signing Ben Davies from Tottenham Hotspur.

Reports have suggested Leeds have been keeping tabs on Spurs defender Davies. Reports of the transfer first emerged in January 2024, yet we are 12 months down the line and no move has taken place as of yet.

But the prospective transfer has not been a simple one as the Wales international's recent injuries have coincided poorly with the opening of the market. Last year the full-back suffered a hamstring injury, over the summer it was calf issues and then again since December 5th he has not appeared for Spurs with another hamstring problem.

However, Spurs reporter Paul O'Keefe stated prior to Tottenham's Northern London derby with Arsenal on Wednesday night that Davies is close returning to Ange Postecoglou's squad. He wasn't included against Arsenal but a return to fitness appears to be imminent.

It is an update that could yet see Leeds rethink their priorities before the end of the current transfer window. Daniel Farke is missing Junior Firpo through his ongoing recovery from a hamstring injury.

In place he has used Sam Byram, but options remain scarce as when cover has been needed midfielder Max Wober has been turned to. Davies could alleviate the problem whilst providing much-needed top-flight experience to this season's Premier League promotion push.

Leeds United loan star Manor Solomon has admitted he is open to staying at the club beyond his current loan spell, with a permanent switch to Elland Road a possibility. The 25-year-old Israel international arrived in the summer from Tottenham Hotspur on a season long loan deal.

Unable to force his way into Ange Postecoglou's Spurs first team, Solomon was sent out on loan and while it is just for a season, there is a real chance he has played his last game for Tottenham unless the current manager has a significant change of heart or Spurs have a change of manager, with the winger having been given little chance by the Australian manager so far in his time in north London.

So what chance of staying on at Leeds and, with all hope, being part of the Whites' return to the Premier League next season? It appears a distinct possibility on Solomon's part, with the player and his partner having settled well in the area. Recent form has certainly helped in that regard, with Solomon's run in the starting XI and contribution to help Leeds go top of the Championship putting a broad smile on the player's face.

The frustration that greeted back and hamstring injuries earlier in the campaign and a subsequent struggle to force his way back into the starting line-up after some mixed displays, has given way to an invigorated player, with a new love and a new determination.

“I love it here. I love the fans. I love the club. I love the players, the manager. Especially now, I’m really enjoying it and I love living here," explains Solomon, speaking to the Athletic. "Of course, it’s different to London, less things to do and we have less friends here. All the Israelis, they live in London, but we found our place here.

As Leeds United fans know only too well, Archie Gray is capable of performing well in multiple positions. The England Under-21 international lined up at left-back for Tottenham Hotspur last night as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Italian outfit Roma in the Europa League.

It was Gray's 12th outing for Spurs since joining the Premier League side in a £40m deal from the Whites last summer. Gray, primarily a central midfielder, was often used by United in the right-back berth.

His maturity and flexibility to play numerous roles has earned him plenty of praise from Spurs chief Ange Postecoglou. Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Tottenham's forthcoming encounter with Fulham, the Australian said: "There's a real maturity at only 18.

"We asked him to play left-back, he has never played that position in his life but does it with a real efficiency and calmness. I am so excited by Archie and that's another positive for us that we have another 18-year-old who just plays and no one mentions that he is 18, they just measure his performance and, like I said, I am asking him to do different jobs.

"It would probably be more comfortable for him if he was settled in one position but he is playing football at a really high level in Europe and the Premier League. That's going to set us up really well for the player that he is going to become. I thought Lucas [Bergvall] was really good when he came on last night, he made an impact. With everything else we're building, there is some real excitement around the young players as well."

Mats Hummels snatched a late equaliser for Claudio Ranieri's Roma to frustrate Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. "It was a tough game for us," acknowledged Gray, who has yet to start for Tottenham in the league. "We had to dig deep in the first 20 minutes and the last 20 minutes.

"Apart from that, I thought played well. We were good on the counter-attacks. But the last moment cost us, and we will learn from the mistakes.

"Roma are a top team and sometimes top teams will have spells attacking us. Sometimes you can do your best and still concede."

With the January transfer window fast approaching, now is the time for players to be linked with clubs ahead of a potential move at the start of 2025.

One of the names that has been linked with Leeds United is certainly a familiar one in Archie Gray. The academy graduate only left the club in the summer, but has been touted for a sensational loan return.

The England youth international made over 50 appearances in his one and only season in the first-team. He played a massive part in Daniel Farke's side making the Championship play-off final, losing 1-0 to Southampton at Wembley.

The 2023/24 Leeds United Young Player of the Year joined Tottenham in July for around £40 million. The deal also saw Joe Rodon move the other way after impressing on loan at Elland Road last season.

The Whites are not the only side linked Gray as clubs in England and Spain are also interested in a loan move for the 18-year-old. With all that in mind, LeedsLive takes a look at a potential return to Leeds for Gray...

How he has settled into life in North London?

Gray has only appeared in five of Spurs' 11 Premier League fixtures so far, amassing 41 minutes in the top flight. He has, however, played the full 90 minutes in all four Europa League games as well as their Carabao Cup wins over Coventry City and Manchester City.

The son of Andy Gray has been deployed in numerous positions in his limited game time. He has played at right-back, left-back, central midfield and even centre-back (during a Europa League fixture against Ferencvaros).

Despite only making sporadic appearances so far, Gray could be in-line to make his first league start in the coming weeks. With Rodrigo Bentancur serving a seven-match ban for using a racial slur on Uruguayan TV, it gives Ange Postecoglu a decision to make on the former Leeds starlet.

Other clubs linked with Gray

As mentioned earlier, there are a few clubs that are also interested in taking Gray on loan for the rest of the season. Leeds will face competition from other sides in England and Spain.

Leicester City and Southampton will hope to keep the current England U21 International in the Premier League. Tottenham may hope for the youngster to get regular minutes in the top-flight.

Sevilla has also been mentioned as a potential destination for Gray to spend the second half of this campaign. This would allow him to cut his teeth in another league, whilst also playing at a high-level.

Daniel Farke refuses to rule out move

Farke was asked last month on whether a move could be facilitated in January. He refused to be drawn into any speculation and gave a restricted answer. He said: "I don’t speak about other players who are under contract at other clubs. I’m a bit reluctant to do any comments who are not under contract anymore.

"Our fingers are crossed for Archie and his whole career. If you want some recommendation, he already has my telephone number but I keep it pretty private what I recommend."

Former Leeds winger gives his opinion

Lee Sharpe have expressed his thoughts on the versatile teenager's potential return to Yorkshire. He believes that a January move would be best for all parties.

"I think it would be unbelievable if Leeds could take Archie on loan in the second half of the season," Sharpe stated. "It would be one of those deals that suits everyone."

"Archie would be playing regular football at a very high standard in an environment that he has flourished in before, he would get better and would go back to Tottenham a better player. It would be great for Leeds because he’s such a quality, versatile player. It’s a loan that would benefit all parties."

Archie Gray made his full debut for Tottenham Hotspur last night in a game which kept him busy and found him exposed for Coventry City’s only goal. The London side eventually progressed to the next round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 win that had seen them remain 1-0 down until the 88th minute.

The Leeds United academy graduate has appeared from the bench for Spurs this season, but Wednesday night’s trip to Coventry in the cup presented him with a first start. The 18-year-old began at right-back with his performance generating fives and sixes from the media’s post-match player ratings.

Football.London awarded him a five and said: “A busy game at right-back and Coventry gave him plenty of problems down that flank with their pace including finding that space behind him for the goal.”

The Standard gave him a six and said: “Comfortable in possession and looked dangerous when he burst inside, while his long passing was brave, but caught up the pitch for the Coventry goal, which came down his flank.”

Meanwhile, 90min gave him a five too, saying: “Given no end of trouble by [Norman] Bassette down that flank.”

After the game, Ange Postecoglou was not asked about Gray directly, but mentioned him in a couple of answers about different players. He said: “Look, it wasn't an easy night for us, as I said, credit to Coventry, but, you know, a lot of guys getting first starts.

“There's some positives in there with Archie and Lucas [Bergvall] and these guys getting some significant game time for us.”

Later, he said: “We already had a couple of injuries and I had some pretty good players on the bench I thought could make an impact, but it doesn't take away from Lucas's performance. He was outstanding tonight.

“They're going to play a lot of football for us and hopefully getting through tonight, whether it's 90 minutes for Archie or 60, 70 for Lucas, will put them in a good space.”

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."

Leeds United did not need to sell Archie Gray to Tottenham Hotspur to balance the books this summer, with the decision to leave the club ultimately the player's. That's the verdict of Leeds CEO Angus Kinnear, who in a wide-ranging interview with The Square Ball podcast, has given an insight into the deal which took Leeds' brightest young talent to Tottenham Hotspur for £40m.

The 18-year-old's transfer to Tottenham in the summer was the one deal that hit hardest for the Leeds supporters as they watched a homegrown talent with a close family connection to the club, sold for what looked like a necessary deal as Leeds scrambled to avoid breaking Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Kinnear admits sales were needed at Leeds this summer, but says two sales from a list of players would have sufficed and Gray's sale, while financially beneficial, was not necessary and the club had not planned on losing their prized teenage asset.

"Leeds United didn't approach any club to sell Archie Gray," explained Kinnear. "Normally you offer a player around or speak to the agent, we could have kept Archie Gray.

"The deal is life changing and Archie and his dad handled the situation impeccably. He wasn't forced out and we said if it doesn't feel right come back and train, but we don't begrudge him that move."

Ultimately the money from the sale of Gray to Spurs allowed Leeds to manage their PSR responsibilities, with Kinnear explaining the benefits of selling a player such as Gray.

He added: "Archie is very valuable from a PSR perspective because he's academy produced so there's no amortisation, there's no book value to him at all. So all of the revenue generated from the sale goes to hit the PSR target.

"The PSR targets are really cruel. To come down from a world were you have a gap from one three-year rolling number to another three-year rolling number, plus the fact you lose all your TV revenue makes it really challenging to stay within those limits, which we have done, but the only way is to sell players."

Kinnear also went on to explain how two sales of other squad players would have also allowed Leeds to meet their PSR target. Kinnear explained; "Two key sales would have done it, it didn't need to be before June 30. We didn't have to sell Archie Gray.

"It could have been Pascal, Willie, Max Wober, but the reality is when you get relegated ever single club has to sell players. We didn't need cash, but there was a PSR gap and we had the issue of players wanting to leave."

Placing the decision firmly in the Gray camp for him to leave the club, Kinnear is keen to point out the teenager left with the blessings of everyone and they understood how he couldn't turn down the chance to go to one of the Premier League's big six with European football awaiting.

The Leeds CEO also revealed how the Whites had fought off competition from two European giants and a host of Premier League teams to get Gray to sign his last contract at Elland Road just months earlier.

"Archie Gray is one of the greatest English talents in the game at the moment," concluded Kinnear.. "When he is signing a new contract he and his representatives are not prepared to be trapped in the Championship, they are just not.

"At that time when we did that new contract Archie Gray could have joined any club in the country. Real Madrid were interested in Archie Gray, Bayern Munich were interested. the way we were able to keep him was threefold.

"One we have him a rather attractive financial offer which matches what he would have been offered in the Premier League. The second was we levied the pathway into the first team which we felt he had at Leeds United and the fact he had a relationship with the club.

"We also had to construct a contract which he was happy with and wasn't going to block what he saw as his natural development. If you don't do that you simply lose them. Archie Gray is a player who will ultimately play for Real Madrid or Bayern Munich."

In a summer of transfer upheaval that saw a procession of high-profile exits it was the departure of Archie Gray to Tottenham Hotspur which stung the most. The loss of a homegrown teenage talent coupled with the family connection to the club, meant the loss of Gray was a tough one to take for Leeds United supporters.

The £40m deal for an 18-year-old with relatively little experience beyond a year in the Championship, underlined the potential of the versatile midfielder who was converted into a right-back under Daniel Farke. And it's potential that is currently attracting some of the Premier League's big hitters to Archie's brother Harry.

First reported by TBR Football and now reported elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur are closely monitoring the progress of 15-year-old Leeds academy star Harry Gray with a view to reuniting the brothers in North London in the near future.

Described by Archie as the more talented of the two, Harry is a teenage forward of real promise who is already well known across the Premier League clubs for his performances in academy football. Tottenham are showing a real interest, but they're not alone with rivals Arsenal, alongside Newcastle United, Chelsea and Liverpool also keeping a very close eye on the young forward.

Leeds would love to keep hold of Harry and returning to the Premier League will aid that cause over the next couple of years. Set to turn 16 next month, Harry Gray faces a key 12 months in his development with the immediate future likely to become clearer by the end of next summer.

Leeds United icon Eddie Gray claims there were a whole host of clubs keen on signing Whites' youngster Archie Gray this summer but there was a key factor behind his recent departure.

The Thorp Arch academy graduate completed a £40million move to Tottenham Hotspur in the recent summer transfer window, with the Elland Road legend explaining why Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou played a huge part in the move to North London.

Speaking to the Daily Record, Archie's uncle Eddie, former Leeds winger and Scotland international, said: "He’s going to be working under a terrific manager. He likes the manager, he loves the manager.

“There were a few teams after him, but I think meeting the manager and how he conducted himself swung it for Archie. I think he’ll help Archie and I think he’ll do very well at Spurs.”

The 18-year-old made 52 appearances in his breakthrough campaign at Elland Road, becoming an integral part of Daniel Farke's starting XI. The 6ft 2ins youngster operated in a number of positions for the Whites, in his preferred central midfield role, but also at right-back as Leeds made it to the Championship Play-off Final.

Despite his brief period in the first-team, Gray will go down as the latest Leeds United fan favourite to come from the Gray family, with Whites' fans keeping a watchful eye on his development.

Gray has featured twice for Spurs since moving to North London, coming on as a substitute in clashes against Leicester City and Everton.

Leeds United have completed the signing of Manor Solomon on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur. The forward will follow Largie Ramazani through the entrance door as the Whites aim to rejuvenate their front line following the departures of Georginio Rutter and Crysencio Summerville, with the Spurs man becoming leeds' sixth summer capture.

Mateo Joseph, Dan James and Willy Gnonto impressed on Leeds' Friday night trip down the M1 to Hillsborough for the Yorkshire Derby, but the loss of the aforementioned key wide men to the heights of the Premier League, along with the ongoing injury woes of Patrick Bamford, have urged the Whites to act on a double deal to reinforce the attack.

Solomon is the second player to join from Spurs this window alongside Joe Rodon, in a deal that saw Archie Gray head the other way. The 25-year-old will be aiming to re-find the form that saw him feature five times in the Premier League for the North London outfit at the start of last season before a meniscus injury ended his season prematurely in early October.

The Whites are understood to have held off a late challenge for his signature from Ajax, while clubs from the top leagues in Europe also showed an interest.

The 2023/24 campaign wasn’t Solomon’s first taste of life in English football’s top flight, having featured 19 times, scoring four, the season prior in a loan deal to Fulham from Shakhtar Donetsk. FIFA allowed foreign players to temporarily suspend their contracts with Ukrainian sides following the invasion from Russia.

Like Rodon, the Israel international will complete the move to West Yorkshire from North London without an option to make the deal permanent with the idea to kickstart his career at his parent club. If Solomon is to prove to be a hit at Elland Road, in a similar ilk to the Welshman, then a deal could be brokered to make his stay further north permanent.

Daniel Farke made no secret that he was eager to bolster the attacking roster available to his squad, and Ramazani’s arrival has been considered to be a direct replacement for Summerville. Primarily an adaptable winger Solomon will look to lay claim to a starting spot on either flank, but will also provide competition to fill in the Rutter-sized hole in the No. 10 spot following the Frenchman's departure to Brighton.

Speaking about transfers recently, Farke said: "We have to rebuild right now, but I trust our owners and board to come through with good decisions. I am optimistic and confident, but nobody wants to hear that right now, it's time to do some business.

"We have a very young group and one of the smallest numbers in the whole league. We have 19 first team players but some have played not many games. You can't expect the young players to do things regularly. Archie Gray did that last year but is a once in 30-years type player. We have a young side, but I am greatful for the experience players we have like Bamford and Rothwell. We need quality and we need personality and we need experience."