'Joy to watch' - Tottenham captain Son Heung-min waxes lyrical about £40m Leeds United exit Archie Gray
The Leeds United academy graduate has wasted no time settling into his new club.
Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min has high expectations of new teammate Archie Gray after what he’s seen in pre-season - regardless of his tender age and lack of top-level experience.
Gray earned his big-money move to Tottenham earlier this summer after the Premier League club triggered his £40million release clause, which became active once Leeds United failed to achieve promotion. The 18-year-old is less than 12 months into his senior career but already faces the task of settling into a brand new environment, and one a step up from what he experienced in West Yorkshire.
One of the benefits of joining a club like Tottenham is the experience of those massive modern-day pre-season tours, which this summer has seen the teenager join his new teammates in Japan and South Korea. He and fellow young summer arrival Lucas Bergvall look to have struck up an early friendship and the pair have impressed.
Gray in particular has won the hearts of Tottenham fans already, looking comfortable at centre-back against Hearts before really showing his quality in a more natural central midfield role. And the versatile youngster has mirrored those performances in training, with new captain Son quick to hand out praise.
“Yeah, they're working really hard every, every single day they want to show who they are,” Son told Football.London of Gray and Bergvall. “I think it's just a joy to watch and both of them are working really hard — they just want to listen and just want to learn.
“I think that's very important at this age because you hope those guys both have an amazing bright future. So, I'm always trying to help the two of them because they just came here, to a new club and they probably need a little bit of help from me. And, yeah, it's just a joy to watch. Every single day they impress me with their attitude.
“They are young but they can make a huge, huge impact for the team. I think that is very important now. These days, I think with this generation, I think age is not important. I think they should take a big responsibility and that is what they do every single day. So, if they do that in the game, I think I have no doubt that they will be very, very good. So, let's see what happens this season. I hope they will both be amazing players.”
After welcoming a number of first-team players back a little later due to international commitments, Tottenham are approaching a full-strength squad and so Gray will get a better idea of where he stands with regards to expected minutes. But the teenager has featured regularly so far this summer and head coach Ange Postecoglou has made it clear he sees the Leeds academy graduate as a first-team player who will get his fair share of football.
Tottenham have two more friendlies, both against Bayern Munich, before starting their 2024/25 Premier League campaign against a team more familiar with Gray that most - Leicester City.