Tottenham youngster Archie Gray has been linked with a move back to Leeds United
Tottenham Hotspur stars have been impressing for their respective countries over the international break, much to the liking of Ange Postecoglou.
Archie Gray has been in action for the England Under-21s during this international break. He started and completed the full 90 minutes against Spain and the Netherlands, clocking valuable minutes after barely featuring for the Lilywhites in the Premier League.
The youngster, who arrived from Leeds United in a £30 million deal in the past summer transfer window, has been majorly limited to cup competitions. He has started all of Spurs’ Europa League and Carabao Cup fixtures, playing almost in every position across the backline.
Yet, Archie Gray has amassed only 581 minutes of action across 11 games in all competitions for the North London side and has not been handed a single start in the Premier League. Tottenham are bracing themselves for loan offers in January, with Championship side Leeds United keen to re-sign their academy graduate.
Famous TNT Sports commentator and analyst Ian Darke feels Spurs would be very unlikely to sanction Gray’s loan exit due to their commitments in the Europa League. The North Londoners’ European adventure will ultimately end a loan return to Leeds United for the teenage prodigy as Ange Postecoglou will need to manage his resources sensibly.
“What legislates against Gray going back to Leeds on loan is, I think, Tottenham in the Europa League,” Ian Darke exclusively told MOT Leeds News.
“They need a deep squad because they’ve got a hectic schedule. If they only had the Premier League and the domestic cups to think about, it would maybe be a different story.
“Leeds fans would love to see him come back and help deliver promotion, but I’d be more than a little surprised if Spurs allowed it to happen.”
Tottenham have plenty of options in the midfield, with Big Ange constantly rotating his players when possible. However, they will have a lot of games to cover in the upcoming weeks and months after the ongoing international break. Also, the FA Cup competition will commence from early January, thereby, piling up the fixtures list.
Ahead of the Lilywhites’ return to Premier League action against Manchester City at the weekend, Big Ange has suffered a blow in the form of Rodrigo Bentancur, who has been fined and banned for seven domestic games by the FA for his comments on teammate Son Heung-min in an interview with an Uruguayan channel back in June. Bentancur’s non-participation in the domestic games for almost a month depletes Big Ange’s options in the engine room.
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Gray could benefit from the Uruguayan international’s absence. The Englishman, who can operate in both defence and midfield, will hope to break into Big Ange’s starting XI. Bentancur’s untimely ban, coupled with the club’s hectic schedule, may result in Daniel Levy blocking Gray’s loan exit.
