£30m Tottenham Hotspur player has now proved himself to Ange Postecoglou – opinion

There was no surprise when Tottenham Hotspur decided to splash the cash and sign Archie Gray from Leeds United in the summer of 2024.

Tottenham paid £30 million for Gray (BBC Sport), and while it was a lot of money, Leeds fans knew that he was worth every penny.

After all, last season, Gray had played a big role for Leeds. He is a midfielder by trade, but he played most of the campaign at right-back and flourished in that role.

The 18-year-old was a key figure for Leeds in reaching the Championship play-off final. He gave two assists in 44 matches in the Championship and made a total of 52 appearances for the West Yorkshire club.

Gray had been struggling to get into Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham starting line-up in the Premier League for much of this season, but back-to-back impressive performances at centre-back suggest that he could play a big role for the club in the coming weeks and months.

The England Under-21 international started at centre-back against Rangers at Ibrox in the UEFA Europa League last week. Postecoglou raved about him after the game and said that Gray was “outstanding” for Tottenham in an unfamiliar role.

With Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero both injured, Gray kept his place in the Tottenham starting line-up against Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium in the Premier League this past weekend.

Gray held his own at the back and made a brilliant late goal-saving tackle. He also switched to left-back. Spurs won 5-0.

According to WhoScored, Gray had a pass accuracy of 96.8% and took 102 touches. The former Leeds youngster made one tackle and one interception. The teenager put in one cross as well.

When Romero and Van de Ven return to full fitness, they are likely to go straight back into the Tottenham starting line-up, but Gray has now proved himself to be a reliable alternative for Postecoglou.