Who is Archie Gray? Inside the life of Spurs star, famous family, best position and Leeds stats
One of Tottenham’s most valuable signings over the summer was an 18-year-old who had played just one season in the Championship. So, who is Archie Gray?
From developing through the Leeds United academy, to nearly joining Brentford, and now finding himself at Tottenham and impressing Ange Postecoglou very quickly, Archie Gray has enjoyed quite the meteoric rise in his short career.
He’s a young player who, by all accounts, is destined to reach the very top of the game, and he has Spurs fans and coaches very excited.
Here, we break down his price tag, his footballing heritage, his playing style, and Archie Gray’s Leeds and Tottenham career in a nutshell.
Archie Gray’s wages and market value
Archie Gray is thought to be earning a whopping £75,000 per week on his contract with Spurs, which runs through to the summer of 2030.
That’s according to Capology data, which puts Gray’s earnings at £3.9m per year. If true, that means Gray earns the same as Rodrigo Bentancur, Destiny Udogie, Fraser Forster, and Guglielmo Vicario.
Of course, this is a very high wage for an 18-year-old, but it is likely Spurs offered him more money in order to sway him from the idea of joining Brentford in the summer.
Tottenham signed Gray for a reported fee of £30m (BBC). According to Transfermarkt data, Gray is actually worth €25m, which equates to roughly £20.8m.
Archie Gray is from a famous footballing family
Football is in the blood for Archie Gray, as his father, grandfather, and uncle all played professionally, and all represented Leeds United.
Archie’s dad, Andy (no, not the disgraced former Sky Sports presenter), was born in Harrogate and came through the ranks at Leeds. He later went on to play for a whole host of Football League teams, including Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest, and Sunderland.
His father, and Archie’s grandfather, Frank, also came through the Leeds United youth system and went on to make over 330 appearances for the Yorkshire club across two spells there.
Archie’s uncle also played for Leeds. Eddie Gray spent his entire playing career with the club, making over 450 appearances and scoring 52 goals. He would later manage Leeds on two occasions.
That’s not all, either: Archie has a younger brother, Harry, who is still at Leeds United now. Funnily enough, Harry Gray is one of Tottenham’s top transfer targets, too, so a family reunion may be on the cards.
Archie Gray’s position and playing style
In a short space of time, Archie Gray has already proven his incredible versatility, being able to play in central midfield or at right-back for Leeds United. He has also played at centre-back and left-back under Ange Postecgolou.
Gray’s primary position is in the middle of the park. His athleticism, agility, and incredible engine make him a brilliant number six who, despite his age and slight frame, can boss the midfield area.
He operated at right-back for Leeds a number of times, though, and is just as adept there. It is clear Postecoglou regards Gray as a genuine option in the defensive roles, too, as he has already employed Gray across the entire back four this season.
Gray is a very competent dribbler, effective in the tackle, and a good passer of the ball. However, he is not particularly strong, and he struggles in the air.
Leeds career explained
Archie Gray came through the Leeds United academy and, last season, got his big breakthrough with his boyhood club, playing all but two games of the Championship campaign.
After Leeds were relegated from the Premier League, they lost a lot of their top players, and as such, turned to youth to carry them through their season in the second tier. Gray was the prime example of this, and he was thrust into the starting lineup from gameweek one.
He actually started out playing in midfield for Leeds and took on that role 14 times in the league. But, from early October onwards, Gray was utilised far more commonly at right-back, playing 30 times in the defensive area (Transfermarkt).
Gray was so good in the 2023/24 season that he won the Championship Young Player of the Year award.
Once Leeds failed to gain promotion, it became clear quite quickly that the club would struggle to hold onto him. While Brentford appeared to have won the race to sign him initially, that move fell through, and Gray got the call from Spurs instead.
Archie Gray has impressed at Spurs
From the moment Gray arrived at Spurs, he has been lavished with praise from his manager and the coaches around the club for his maturity, his talent, and his work rate.
Gray was handed the number 14 shirt in the summer, which suggested he would have a substantial role to play in Postecoglou’s side. That has certainly been the case, too, with Gray already getting plenty of minutes as a substitute in the Premier League, as well as starts in Europe and the Carabao Cup.
The youngster has earned glowing reviews from Postecoglou. After the Europa League win over Ferencvaros, the coach told Football.London: “I thought Archie Gray was brilliant today. We asked him to play two different positions and he just adapts and handles it.”
Postecoglou also had positive things to say after Gray’s first European appearance, against Qarabag: “I see him in a Tottenham shirt and playing good football, he was great last night, first European game having to play with ten men. He’s really mature, great head on him.”
It is thought Spurs opted against signing another midfielder to replace Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp in the summer, purely because of how happy they were with Gray (The Athletic).
According to Alasdair Gold, Gray has “wowed Postecoglou and the coaching staff” since joining Spurs.
Personal information and social media
Archie Gray was born on March 12, 2006, making him 18-years-old at the time of writing. He was born in Durham, England.
Gray is fairly tall, coming in at 1.87m high, but he weighs just 70kg, making him a very delicately framed young man.
He has over 250,000 followers on Instagram, where he is fairly active. There is an X/Twitter profile under his name, but he has not used the account since July 2024.
For more on the Spurs first-team squad, check out our profiles on young players like Lucas Bergvall or older heads like Heung-min Son.
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