When Tottenham Hotspur announced their starting line-up for last week’s 3-0 victory over Doncaster Rovers in the third round of the Carabao Cup, most observers assumed Archie Gray would partner Kevin Danso in central defence.
Gray, who joined Spurs from Leeds United in July 2024 for around £30million ($40m at current rates), made 46 appearances last season, mainly in different roles across the back four due to a prolonged injury crisis. However, against Doncaster, it was Joao Palhinha who slotted in at centre-back, giving Gray a rare chance in his preferred position of central midfield.
The 19-year-old showed strength and skill on the ball while his driving runs created space for his team-mates. After coming off the bench against Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League on Tuesday evening, Gray’s shot forced Jostein Gundersen’s 89th-minute own goal that salvaged a crucial point. Opportunities have been limited under new head coach Thomas Frank but he has shown glimpses of his potential.
This weekend, Gray returns to play at Elland Road, where three generations of his family have represented Leeds, for the first time since he left in the summer of 2024. He will be reunited with Daniel Farke, the head coach who gave him his senior debut at 17. There is a slim chance he might even face his younger brother Harry, who has been named on Leeds’ bench twice this season but is struggling with a hip issue picked up in an under-21s game on Monday.
But Leeds supporters who watched Gray outperform far more experienced opponents when he was a skinny teenager in the Championship will be wondering why he is not yet an integral part of Tottenham’s starting XI.
Early last summer, Brentford thought they were about to complete a club-record deal to sign Gray. He had been impressed by their detailed three-year development plan, and Brentford’s recruitment department thought Gray possessed the qualities to become a world-class deep-lying midfielder. They wanted him to learn from Denmark international Christian Norgaard. Gray would spend his first two seasons as a more advanced midfielder in west London, where he was promised a significant amount of playing time, before succeeding Norgaard, now at Arsenal.
Gray underwent a medical and held conversations about where he would live. Frank was in charge of Brentford and gave the move his blessing, but Spurs swooped in. Members of Gray’s family support Celtic, who won five trophies in two seasons under Ange Postecoglou. The Australian manager joined Tottenham in 2023 and helped convince Gray to join. They only worked together for a year before Postecoglou was sacked, but he had huge faith in Gray.
The building pressure on Postecoglou added to a slightly bizarre debut season for Gray. It ended with a Europa League winner’s medal but Gray regularly found himself playing at centre-back due to the long-term injuries suffered by Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin. He started 19 times in the league, recording 1,743 minutes across 28 appearances. He was a young player unfairly exposed in an unfamiliar position surrounded by underperforming team-mates.
Gray was slightly overshadowed by Lucas Bergvall, another teenager who arrived in the summer of 2024. Bergvall’s performances in the second half of last season earned him a place in the starting XI, which he has retained under Frank. The Sweden international never looked back after scoring against Liverpool in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. It feels like Gray is still waiting for his lift-off moment.
“I haven’t lost sight of the fact that we’ve got two 18-year-olds, one who’s playing at centre back, it’s not even his position,” Postecoglou said after Spurs beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Carabao Cup in January.
“I just don’t think people really understand the level of performance that these young guys are giving us. And in a position (Gray’s) never played. Name me another Premier League team that’s got two 18-year-olds and one playing out of position consistently.
“I’m so happy they’re at our football club and in two or three years, I just pray to God I’m the beneficiary of their talent, mate, because if somebody else is getting it, I won’t be happy.”
Gray played in midfield on a couple of occasions towards the end of last season, including in defeats against Fulham and Liverpool, but looked risk-averse in possession. In all the emotion of Son Heung-min’s final game for Spurs over the summer, Gray’s assured performance as a central midfielder in the pre-season friendly against Newcastle United was overlooked. He snapped into challenges and powerfully carried the ball. He was confident and unafraid to battle with Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes.
After Spurs returned from their pre-season tour of Hong Kong and South Korea, they signed Palhinha on a season-long loan with an option to buy from Bayern Munich. The Portugal international represents another obstacle in Gray’s path, but there is a growing debate about whether he should start against teams when Spurs dominate possession.
Gray’s other positional rivals are Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma. Bergvall is forging an excellent relationship with Mohammed Kudus and Pedro Porro down the right wing while Sarr quickly established himself as Frank’s favourite.
Bentancur and Bissouma have both entered the final year of their contracts, although The Athletic reported on Wednesday that Bentancur is close to agreeing a long-term deal. Bissouma, meanwhile, was left at home for the European Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain due to persistent lateness, then suffered an injury in training and was not registered in Spurs’ Champions League squad. He is probably the only senior central midfielder who Gray is above in the pecking order.
Gray started alongside Bergvall and Sarr in Spurs’ 3-0 victory over Burnley on the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign but a few weeks later, he was dropped from their squad entirely for the trip to West Ham United. Does he deserve more game time? Or can his peaks and troughs be attributed to the natural path of a young player’s development?
“I like flexible players, every coach likes that,” Frank said before the 2-2 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion. “It gives more squad depth and different abilities for different games. I see him more as a midfielder or a centre-back, he can play both.”
“Sometimes you need that run of games, like Lucas, and you take the next steps. Archie really impressed me. He played a very good pre-season friendly against Newcastle and he really grew into the game against Burnley. He was not in the squad for West Ham and the next day he trained fantastically.
“He does the bit I like from a midfielder, where he can twist and turn to go forward, he is very mobile and reliable. Unfortunately, you can only play 11. Can we change the rules? Get a few more on the pitch, that would help.”
Gray has made five appearances this season in midfield. Has his progress been helped or harmed by covering multiple positions? The Athletic asked Frank last month if versatile players should eventually focus on one role and the head coach spoke about how “modern football is much more flexible now”.
“When you see players perform at their best, most likely they play in one position,” he said. “Although these days centre-backs also play as full-backs and some midfielders play No 10 (attacking midfield) and sometimes No 6 (deeper). When they go towards their peak, that is when they should settle into a position.”
Recent cameos suggest Gray might be more suited to a box-to-box midfield role. In the second half against Glimt, his runs into the right-hand channel stretched the opposition’s defence. He played an exceptional first-time pass against Brighton that led to Kudus having an opportunity to score in stoppage time.
Gray’s talent is there for everybody to see but working out the best way to harness it is proving to be an awkward challenge. Leeds fans will be hoping that he does not break their hearts and score his first senior goal on Saturday.
(Top photo: Harry Murphy/Getty Images)