Why Tottenham have swooped for teen sensation Archie Gray

 

Adam Wharton's success at Crystal Palace this year means a number of teams will turn to the EFL in their respective bids to strengthen this summer. There is a bargain to be had provided teams are prepared to take a gamble on up and coming stars a little further down the football pyramid. Chelsea are set to land Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester, a deal that will see the 25-year-old link up with Enzo Maresca. 

 

Crossing the London divide, Tottenham are closing in on the services of Archie Gray from Leeds. Brentford thought they'd done enough to sign the 18-year-old but after talks collapsed, Spurs swooped for the teenager. Whether this is due to Spurs not wishing to pass up the chance to acquire another EFL youngster remains to be seen but Gray could be viewed as an ideal fit at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

 

Not only does he boost their homegrown quota - Spurs have been identifying English talent for this very reason - but Gray is the ideal player to operate in an Ange Postecoglou system. It's no secret that Postecoglou tasks his full-backs with not only providing width down their respective flanks but to act as auxiliary central midfielders when Spurs push forward. This does leave space behind the left and right-back when they get upfield but Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro, respectively, have the recovery speed to ensure opponents are unable to exploit the north London side. 

 

That said, Spurs need cover for both players. It's no secret that when either, or both, Udogie and Porro were absent, Postecoglou's side struggled. In this instance, then, Gray is a very good fit as not only cover for Porro, but in midfield too. Of his 43 league starts last season, 30 came at right-back with the other 13 coming in midfield. The versatility to his game, and the ability to shine at both right-back and in the middle of the park, is a desirable trait. It's no wonder the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich had been linked with Gray in recent months. 

 

 

What stands out most about Gray is his ball winning abilities. Even as Spurs finished the campaign with the second highest possession average (62%), they still made the fifth most tackles per game (19.1) as the sought to quickly win the ball back. This is an area that Gray excels in having finished the campaign with 97 tackles, more than any other played aged 21 and under in the Championship, and 13th overall. A tackle success rate of 76.4% was respectable to say the least. 

 

While his distribution and ball retention may be questioned at times, an 83.9% pass success rate from 40.3 passes per 90 a case in point, at his age; this is a side to his game that will improve in time. And while a small sample size, Gray did exhibit this trait well earlier in the year as Leeds fell to a 3-2 loss at Chelsea in the FA Cup. Indeed, he returned a pass success rate of 93% as the teen really caught the eye, finiding a teammate with 40 of 43 passes at Stamford Bridge, so he's not overwhelmed by the level of opposition. 

 

 

He's also a handy ball carrier, noted in that he averaged a modest one successful dribble per 90 in the Championship last season and has the desire to put the ball into the box having ranked fifth for total crosses, exluding corners (38) of all Leeds players, which is a benefit for a Spurs side that finished sixth for crosses per game (14.4) in England's top tier last term.

 

Spurs have a handy crop of youngsters on the books as is. Lucas Bergvall is now officially a Spurs player and joins the likes of Jamie Donley, Mikey Moore and Alfie Dorrington at Hotspur Way with the future looking bright. Gray, though, is a signing for the here and now. In the three games Porro didn't start, they missed a player who could not only stretch defences but step into midfield to maintain dominance in the middle of the park. As additional cover in a key position who'll improve considerably under the watchful eye of Postecoglou, Gray is a very smart signing by Spurs.

Why Tottenham have swooped for teen sensation Archie Gray