Thorp Arch may soon be part of every conversation when discussing the finest academies in English football, inspired in part by the success of Archie Gray away from his beloved Leeds United home.
Less than a year after Archie Gray secured a £35 million move to Tottenham Hotspur while still only 18, the versatile teenager’s younger sibling is beginning to attract plenty of interest himself.
Leeds United News understands that – three years Archie’s junior but already training with Daniel Farke’s first-team – Harry Gray is on the radars of Arsenal, Newcastle, and unsurprisingly, Tottenham.
Leeds have already tied the similarly prodigious Sam Chambers down to a professional deal, though, and they will be planning to do the same when Gray turns 17 in October. Charlie Crew, so impressive in the pre-season tour of 2024, could return from a loan spell with Doncaster Rovers looking to make a first-team spot his own under Farke next term.
But if Leeds United have hit upon a veritable gold mine of emerging talent, across the Channel, Ligue 1 outfit FC Nantes are seeing their own good work behind the scenes pay off.
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Leeds United eye Nantes sensation Herba Guirassy
Randal Kolo Muani went from breakout talent at Nantes to £77 million Paris Saint-Germain forward in just over a year, via a brilliant spell at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bastien Meupiyou has already joined Wolves, with the Arsenal-linked Nathan Zeze expected to follow in his footsteps on the other side of the sea. Quentin Merlin, Pierre Ekwah, Batista Mendy and Imran Louza are among others to fly The Canaries’ nest in recent times.
And as Leeds United join Celtic in the race for Herba Guirassy, according to reports which have emerged from France this week, the teenage forward feels increasingly likely to become the next homegrown talent to change hands for a substantial sum.
MORE LEEDS UNITED STORIES
Guirassy, 18 years of age and the number 62 on the back of his shirt betraying his youngster status, needed only two appearances, and less than five minutes on the pitch, to open his Ligue 1 account back in August.
There is always some uncertainty whether a young player so impressive in reserve-team football can make the step up. But, like Archie Gray did during Farke’s first season at Leeds United, Herba Guirassy appears to be a footballer completely immune to pressure.
Stepping off the bench with Nantes 1-0 up against Auxerre in August, Guirassy picked up possession inside his own half, breezed past one defender, sat another on the floor, and capped a searing run with a cool finish into the bottom corner.
It was a carry and finish reminiscent of Kolo Muani’s days in yellow and green.
Ligue 1 starlet earns Randal Kolo Muani comparisons
To quote French publication FootSur7, the £8.5 million-rated Guirassy ‘has an interesting profile. Fast, technical, and with good vision. His playing style is reminiscent of a certain Randal Kolo Muani’.
“Herba has the primary quality of a top-level attacking player, namely audacity and spontaneity,” says Matthieu Bideau, head of youth recruitment at FCN. ” He doesn’t hide and goes forward; not everyone is capable of that, especially at 18.”
A second, less impressive, senior strike would come in the Autumn against Strasbourg. As things stand, Guirassy has as many goals as he has starts in France’s top flight.
As Nantes youth coach Stephane Ziani explains, Guirassy has a tendency to get himself ‘tangled up’. With his slight and rangy frame, the Angers-born teenager can occasionally look a little leggy. Gangly. Even during that Auxerre wondergoal, Guirassy nearly lost his footing at the end.
Yet, in a league which has long since specialised in crafting right-footed, left-sided forwards from Thierry Henry to Kylian Mbappe, Guirassy possesses a few of his predecessor’s stand-out attributes required, even if the sky-high standards set by the Arsenal legend and the Real Madrid superstar, let alone now-Juventus frontman Kolo Muani, risk raising expectations to impossible levels.
“Herba has the primary qualities of a top-level attacking player. Namely, audacity and spontaneity,” explains Matthieu Bideau, head of youth recruitment at Nantes.
“He doesn’t hide and goes forward. Not everyone is capable of that, especially at 18.”
“I’m discovering him,” adds Antoine Kombouare, Nantes’ highly-experienced head coach. “He had a good pre-season. What he showed was very interesting.
“The hardest thing is to be consistent in his performance, to continue working because he’s young.”