Tottenham Hotspur beat Leeds United 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
The north London club’s solid start to the Thomas Frank era continued here, but, before the match, the conversation was largely centred around one player.
Indeed, this was the first time Archie Gray had returned to Elland Road since his £40m move to Spurs last summer.
Of course, Gray was a Leeds player, and even as such a young player, he was something of a fan favourite due to his family ties to Elland Road.
Speaking on Tottenham’s YouTube channel before the game, Clive Allen was discussing Gray’s potential, and he gave the teenager a glowing review.
Clive Allen says Archie Gray is a ‘big talent’
Allen spoke about Gray ahead of his return to Leeds.
Gray didn’t get on the pitch against his former club, but Allen noted that the youngster is a ‘really big talent’, who should get opportunities in the future.
“I think this will be an emotional day for him,” Allen said.
“He was very good at Leeds in the early days of his career before his move to us. He’s a player that when called upon he’s very reliable and he’s a really big talent.”
How good could Archie Gray become?
As Allen says, Gray looks like a big talent, and that’s the view of many within football.
According to Dan Kilpatrick, speaking on The Tottenham Way Podcast earlier this year, there are people in football who believe Archie Gray could grow into a Steven Gerrard type player.
“I think his best position is still a little bit up in the air. There’s a kind of assumption that, you know, he arrived here as a six and he was going to play deep. I think I’ve spoken to people that think he’s more of a kind of Gerrard type who could get up and down the pitch and kind of be a threat around the opposition goal,” Kilpatrick said.
At the age of just 19 and with so much versatility, Gray is a blank canvas of a footballer who could grow to become a top class player for Tottenham later down the line.
The present is going well at Spurs, but the future looks particularly bright at Tottenham.