Tottenham Hotspur 'consider' Leeds United hijack after club record fee agreed

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly considering making an 11th hour offer to Leeds United for midfielder Archie Gray as they weigh up the possibility of hijacking Brentford’s £40m move for the teenager.

As reported by the YEP on Saturday, Gray is close to sealing a move to Premier League outfit Brentford. He had agreed personal terms with Thomas Frank’s side and was set to have a medical in West London. Leeds and Brentford have agreed on a £40m deal with the clubs still in talks over the payment schedule for the transfer which is a club record signing for the Bees. Brentford’s transfer record is currently their £30m signing Igor Thiago, who agreed to join the West London club from Club Brugge back in February.

Given that the deal has yet to be finalised, other clubs could still swoop late on with one of those reported to be Tottenham. Spurs and Chelsea were both understood to have held talks with Leeds over a deal for Gray while Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool had all tracked the youngster’s progress intently.

According to talkSPORT, Tottenham are considering matching Brentford’s offer for Gray but they will need to make a decision quickly as the 18-year-old continues to go through with his switch to Brentford. The Bees will be keen to wrap up the deal quickly and avoid a late attempt by Spurs, and possibly Chelsea, to disrupt the deal.

Speaking to the YEP earlier this year, club chairman Paraag Marathe was unable to rule out Gray leaving Elland Road as Leeds battled to stay within Profit and Sustainability regulations. He said: “If I can paint the big picture for you, there are certain things that we need to do and we will make sure we are fully compliant with P&S, as we always have been. And there are certain trade-offs that we have to make and so we'll have to get to the drawing board and figure out which moves we have to make sure that we are compliant. It's too early to say.

“Obviously Archie is a tremendous player, as are all of the players who put in so much effort for us, but you know, every season brings change and so I can't yet comment on it, but we'll see what happens."

Gray first came to the attention of Leeds fans back in December 2021 when, aged just 15, he was named on the bench by then manager Marcelo Biela for a clash against Arsenal. Speaking about the impact of Bielsa on his career, Gray said ahead of last month’s play-off final: “I was out of school quite a bit and training with the first team most days, really happy to be around it. The intensity of the football compared to under-21s was different. I wouldn’t say I really struggled with it but it was definitely more intense. I noticed that straight away, but I was fit and I found it OK.

“The sessions with Marcelo, they were so good. People know how tough they were because a lot was said about it at the time but I took so much from him. As hard as it was, and all the running you did, some of what I learned was priceless.”

Last season he became a regular in the starting XI, playing at right back and in defensive midfield under Daniel Farke. He played over 4,000 minutes of football across the entire campaign as he was a regular in the Championship and subsequent play-offs as well as making appearances in the League Cup and FA Cup.