What Georginio Rutter saw in Archie Gray when he first arrived at Leeds United as Stoke City warning sent

Georginio Rutter admits he saw the potential in Archie Gray from the moment he arrived at Leeds United last year and insists the 17-year-old deserves all the recent praise he has received.

Gray was still some way off making his senior debut when Rutter arrived in an initial £26million deal from Hoffenheim in January 2023, but at just 16 he was already a regular for the under-21s. Relegation to the Championship has handed both young talents a fresh chance at regular football and they are thriving.

Having made his first appearance at home to Cardiff City on the opening day of the season, Gray has started 33 of Leeds 35 Championship matches - a total bettered only by Ethan Ampadu and Rutter. Many of those games have been at right-back but the teenager is yet to look out of place as the Whites push for an instant return to the Premier League - and Rutter seemingly saw that potential from the off.

“For me, the first time I came here and I saw him, I saw something special," Rutter told The Mirror. "He’s a very big player. He’s had a good progression and he deserves that because he works every day for that. And he’s a good guy. He knows everything - so I don’t have to say more for him!” 

Leeds have just 11 games remaining of the regular season and are in the midst of a best-ever Championship promotion race, sitting in third with just eight points separating Leicester City in first and Southampton below them in fourth. Daniel Farke's Achilles heel this season has been games against bottom-half sides and Saturday's 1-1 draw at 10-man Huddersfield was as frustrating as they come.

The Whites welcome Stoke City to Elland Road on Tuesday evening, having fallen to a 1-0 defeat at the Bet365 Stadium back in October. As has been so often this season, Leeds dominated for much of the 90 minutes but were wasteful in front of goal - an issue they cannot afford to repeat too many times again before May.

“We have to be clever – not like the game before," Rutter added of Tuesday's clash. "The last time we played against Stoke it was a bit difficult because we didn’t play a good game. Now we have to be cleverer and more clinical because we had a lot of chances against Stoke but we conceded a goal and lost 1-0. You can’t be like this – you have to be focused. Sometimes you can have a bit too much confidence, but everyone is ready for it.”