Given Leeds United’s position in the food chain as a football club, there will always be other clubs — like Tottenham Hotspur — who pinch their best players.
That was something Leeds United were stung by just over a year ago with Archie Gray joining Spurs for £40 million. Premier League football can help retain their stars, but they will see other depart without it.
Other notable sales while Leeds were exiled from the top flight include the likes of James Milner, Fabian Delph, Jonny Howson, and Aaron Lennon. Relegation, therefore, could be disastrous for them.
Howson has returned to play alongside Harry Gray for the Leeds U-21 team, and he is their ‘prize jewel’ in that academy side. However, interest in the 16-year-old striker has been present for some time now.
Spurs will be monitoring Harry Gray more closely after latest Leeds developments
Just as one example, Max McFadden has joined Spurs from Leeds. However, Leeds will be terrified that Harry could join Archie at Tottenham, following transfer links emerging last season.
Leeds will, of course, want to retain him for longer than his brother. Gray recently signed a new scholarship at Leeds this summer, but he is not yet turned 17.
Gray remains happy at Leeds despite Spurs links. But game time, or a lack thereof, can change that quickly. Gray is featuring regularly for the U-21s, having made just one professional appearance for Leeds.
The problem with being the star of the team is that attention and limelight are always on top of you. Gray has had a remarkable start to the 2025/26 campaign at Premier League 2 level.
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With four goals and two assists in three league games and one EFL Trophy clash with Port Vale for the U-21 team already, it’s fair to say Gray is absolutely flying.
That is six of his team’s eight goals in all competitions. Soon, Gray will be asking Daniel Farke where his more regular first-team chances are. The young Leeds striker came off the bench against Stoke City in a 6-0 demolition under Eddie Gray’s watchful eye.
Eddie is his great uncle, while Frank Gray was his grandfather. It’s in his blood, which Spurs will be fully aware of following the development of Archie over the last 15 months now.
Having been nominated for Premier League 2’s Player of the Month, Gray could not have started much better in a Leeds shirt at academy level this season. Spurs’ Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny has also been nominated for the award.
They continue to lurk around the situation regarding Gray, and will be keeping a watchful eye over his development beyond this point. Gray is one of the most promising young English strikers currently.
It makes retaining him less than simple long-term, especially given his recent trajectory. Relegation or a lack of a pathway into the first-team could be costly for the West Yorkshire outfit.
Either way, Spurs will be monitoring Gray more closely after the latest Leeds developments.
Patrick Bamford compares Archie Gray and Harry Gray
With the Leeds youngster described as special, it’s fair to say he is being tipped for incredibly big things this season and beyond. Gray paid tribute to Patrick Bamford recently following his exit.
The ex-Leeds hero mentored the young striker, and Bamford is confident Gray has a bright future at Leeds. He said: “Harry and Archie look very, very similar; personalities couldn’t be any different.
“When Archie came up, quiet but just got about it. Harry is chirpy. He is proper chirpy — but in a good way. He’s got no problem with having one of the first-team players off. At 16! I swear.
“He, I think, in his head, knows he’s good. I remember when Archie was still at Leeds, I went to watch for the 18s or 21s and Harry was playing.
“I literally — and he knows now because I’ve told him — but I literally went to watch just to see him. He’s good and he’s going to be decent.
“I thought, when he comes up, I’ll try to help him a little bit. It’s weird to say but he like looks up to me a little bit, so I can kind of get away with it with him a bit.
“He could be top. He’s tall, quite slim, quick, very aggressive. For how tall he is, his dribbling is a joke. He can put defenders on their arse.
“In training, he does it a lot. He did it to Joe Rodon. He was through and he chopped the life out of him. Joe hates looking like that. So, all the lads jumped on it winding him up.
“Honestly, times have changed with young players. But I quite like it, because I find him funny.”