'He loves...' - Chelsea and Liverpool target chose £40m Spurs transfer for 'terrific' reason

Tottenham Hotspur had to beat serious Premier League competition to sign highly-rated midfielder Archie Gray from Leeds United this summer after the 18-year-old's breakthrough season at Elland Road last term.

The teenager made an impressive 52 appearances in all competitions for Daniel Farke's side last season as the Whites came close to clinching promotion to the top flight. It was no surprise to see a flurry of transfer rumours around the player once the summer window opened.

It was ultimately Spurs who won that race, forking out £40 million to bring the player to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Gray signed a six-year deal in July.

In the days before that deal was announced, it had been widely reported that Brentford had a £35 million bid accepted by Leeds United. Meanwhile, The Express reported that Chelsea 'joined' Spurs in the transfer race at the end of June with The Daily Mail claiming that Liverpool were ready to splurge £40 million on the rising star as early as November 2023.

With such high profile interest, signing Gray was a major coup for Spurs and the player's great uncle Eddie has unveiled how the club clinched the transfer. The former Leeds United star and Scotland international told the Daily Record: "He's going to be working under a terrific manager. He likes the manager, he loves the manager. There were a few teams after him, but I think meeting the manager and how he conducted himself swung it for Archie. I think he'll help Archie and I think he'll do very well at Spurs.”

Gray is eligible to play for Scotland, just like his great uncle, despite being involved in the England youth set-up. Eddie was asked if he might be able to persuade the Spurs man to represent Scotland as a senior and said: "I doubt it now, to be honest. He's captained England school boys and he's in their under-21s already. He's still only 18.

"So, it'll be difficult. We just need to wait and see. When you go to school in England and play in their youth system, it makes it more likely I suppose. Archie has grown up watching all the English boys playing and then playing with a lot of English boys in the youth teams. It's the same with his brother, Harry. He'll be a good player as well.”