Archie Gray agent shares ‘simple’ reason he left Leeds United this summer
Archie Gray left Leeds United for Tottenham in the summer as a result of the Whites’ failure to achieve promotion, according to his agent.
Daniel Farke’s side came close to a Premier League return last campaign, narrowly missing out to Southampton who secured victory in the play-off final.
Ultimately, an exit for Gray would follow after a remarkable breakthrough season with Tottenham sealing a £25million deal after selling Joe Rodon in the opposite direction.
Speaking on The Square Ball podcast (2 December), in quotes reported by Leeds United News, Hayden Evans (Gray’s agent) said: “I don’t think it was so much a financial imperative, because that’s the club’s – this is me being callous as an agent now – that’s a club’s position, and that’s their problem.
“Never would we sell one of our players or move one of our players because the club said they need the money. I mean, we had one experience of that a long, long time ago, and that was Batts (David Batty), funny enough, when basically the club made it absolutely clear he had to go to save the club.
“But no, I think it was more a case of if we’d have been successful in the 90 minutes at Wembley, and gone up, actually was going nowhere. Just as simple as that. It was purely because we didn’t make the Premier League.”
Archie Gray exit signals what could happen if Leeds United fail to get promoted
Gray wasn’t the only Championship player to earn a promotion to the Premier League through the means of a transfer and he won’t be the last.
However, Leeds can’t afford to let it happen again by failing to get promoted in this campaign.
The Whites have had an excellent campaign so far, albeit a defeat against Blackburn in their recent fixture (30 November) knocked them off of the summit. Several players have impressed with Willy Gnonto, Ao Tanaka and Joe Rodon in particular the standout performers.
Simply put, if the Whites fail to get promoted this season, it is highly likely some of those players will follow a similar route to Gray and leave the club in the summer.
Gnonto and Tanaka in particular have showcased themselves as exceptional Championship players and if Leeds remain in this division next season, it is hard to envisage a scenario in which there isn’t interest in the pair from top division clubs.
If Leeds can successfully utilise the January window, they have every chance of a Premier League return and will undoubtedly hold the upper hand when it comes to retaining their talent.
In other Leeds United news, Dan Bardell has shared his stance on a potential exit for Joe Gelhardt.
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