Joe Rodon’s permanent move to Leeds United was largely thanks to Archie Gray joining Tottenham Hotspur in the summer for a fee of £40m, with Gray expected to make his first start tonight.
After a wonderful breakthrough season at Leeds that saw 18-year-old Gray clock up a massive 52 games for Daniel Farke’s side and work his way up to England U21 level, the teenager moved to Tottenham.
Aston Villa, Brentford and plenty of other clubs showed interest in Gray but he opted to join Spurs largely because of manager Ange Postecoglou according to great uncle Eddie Gray, and his love of Celtic.
Gray is set to make his first Tottenham start on Wednesday night in the Carabao Cup after being an unused sub in Spurs’ last two Premier League games, when Spurs take on Championship side Coventry.
Rodon thinks Gray is “great” and hard work will be important
Like Gray, Rodon completed a move to Tottenham in 2021 from a Championship club in Swansea, albeit he was a bit older. The Wales defender knows how hard it is to make an impression at such a big club.
But despite that, Rodon thinks Gray has what it takes to go and make it at his old club. Certainly, Gray’s move to Spurs allowed Leeds to arrange a permanent move to Elland Road for Rodon, costing £10m.
“Great, great kid. I think, what a lot goes for him is his hard work is his biggest thing. We’re all going to be supporting him and rooting for him going forward,” Rodon told Sky Sports when asked about Gray.
Ethan Ampadu backs “incredible” Gray to reach the next level
Rodon partnered Gray on the right side of Leeds’ defence last season when Gray played right-back and Ampadu was often in midfield with the Thorp Arch academy product, when Farke used him in midfield.
Speaking in the same interview as Rodon, Leeds captain Ampadu is backing Gray to go to the next level at Tottenham. He believes that while he starred at Leeds, there is more to come from Gray at Tottenham.
“He’s had an incredible breakthrough year but he knows he can go to more levels. He hasn’t done anything there but we have belief in him and we’re all happy for him to move on to that next step.”
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