At present, Leeds should be very concerned with their Premier League status, which is hanging by a thread.
The Yorkshiremen have a tough run of fixtures to contend with and Javi Gracia will have to dig deep to help his team find the resources to keep them up.
Their immediate future in the balance notwithstanding, the club should also have one eye on the future and which up and coming young stars will fly the flag for them so to speak.
According to The Athletic (subscription required), former manager, Jesse Marsch, suggested that Archie Gray, grandson of Leeds defender, Frank, and great nephew of one of the best talents to come out of Elland Road, Eddie Gray, was “the full package” at just 16 years of age.
That’s perhaps why other clubs appear to have been sniffing around the youngster, which is unlikely to please Javi Gracia or the supporters.
Huge congratulations to Year 11 student Archie Gray who scored for the @LUFC under 23 team last night. https://t.co/6HaRJ3bwnU
— St John Fisher Catholic High School, Harrogate (@sjfchs) March 16, 2022
“He’s committed his future to Leeds, and there was a lot of genuine interest from much bigger clubs frankly and clubs on the continent,” football agent, Hayden Evans, said on The Phil Hay Show.
“But Leeds is where he wants to be, it’s a simple as that.”
At this point, it appears that Gray has a mature head on young shoulders and is keen to continue his footballing education at the club where his family lineage is etched in folklore.
Should the unthinkable happen this season and Leeds have to reassess all of their priorities, given the financial saving that would be expected to have to be made, there’s a possibility that they’ll not be able to hold on to Gray in any event.
That in itself would be a huge shame for this proud and storied football club.
All the key players that we need to keep for our future should have a huge price tag attached £ 150,000 at least not the stupid prices we got last year ( we all know we would have had to pay at least twice the fee we accepted for Phillips and Raphinha ) this way if we loose anybody we are going to have money to buy decent players