Ange Postecoglou praises 'incredible' Archie Gray as Leeds United trait used with Tottenham Hotspur

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Leeds United sold the former Elland Road star over the summer.

Leeds United were ‘heartbroken’ to sell Archie Gray over the summer as he pursued a move to the Premier League. The 18-year-old is one of the most exciting young talents in the country and new manager Ange Postecoglou was full of praise for him after Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League win over Ferencváros.

Gray has started both of Spurs’ European fixtures so far and has showcased his impressive versatility. After featuring at right-back against Qarabag, Postecoglou deployed him at centre-back in the first half in Hungary, before moving him to left-back after the break. Despite primarily being a midfielder, Gray continues to show how easily he can slot into a number of positions. It was something he regularly did in his breakthrough season for the Whites, as he was deployed at right-back and in central midfield by Daniel Farke.

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“I thought Archie was brilliant today. We asked him to play in two different positions and it's incredible how he just adjusts and he's able to bring his game to wherever we put him,” the Tottenham boss told football.london.

“I felt like we were starting to get on top and stronger. Archie has got a great capacity to run, and I thought putting him at left-back, he would be able to get forward for us more, and Ben [Davies] with his ability to defend and his left-foot meant he could get the ball out to the left side.

“I just wanted to use Archie’s energy, as much as anything. He did a good job for us first half but I just felt in the second half we could put them under more pressure if we had somebody on the left-hand side in the same way as the right-hand side who could get forward and get back. I thought he did that really well. In his first run he ran the whole pitch. It helped us balance our attacks on both sides.”

After interest from several clubs over the summer, Gray signed for Spurs in a £40 million deal. Leeds released a statement expressing the ‘heartbreak’ to see a homegrown talent leave Elland Road but stressed how the sale helped provide funds to ‘improve the club’s chance to compete for automatic promotion’.

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Leeds are currently fifth in the Championship table but just three points behind Sunderland at the top of the tree. Meanwhile, Tottenham are eighth in the Premier League and looking to push further up the table as the season goes on.

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