Leeds United will be rightly thinking of a restructuring as the club looks to adapt to next season in the Premier League.
Leeds United took the breath away in last season’s Championship with their approach and, at times, champagne football. However, promotion will be huge leveller for LUFC.
Whites fans will be expecting to stay in English football’s top-tier competition past a single-season stay. Players will need to be brought in; that is almost a given.
LUFC - Leeds United home ground Elland Road
Image courtesy of: CARL RECINE/REUTERS.
However, decisions elsewhere also need to be made. One of those decisions involves 16-year-old Harry Gray. It is not likely to be a decision that is simplistic and straightforward; as nothing is at Elland Road.
Top of Leeds United’s list must surely be a professional deal for the teen striker. On October 8th, Gray will turn 17 and be eligible for signing his first full-time deal.
A looming date for Leeds United
LUFC fans would be in a state of apoplexy if that decision hadn’t been made already and representatives of the youngster hadn’t been spoken to. The four months between now and then are fraught with danger.
Any club can come in and also offer him a deal, which would leave Leeds United receiving only recompense for his training with a fee set by an independent tribunal.
His grandfather, Whites great Eddie Gray, said when his brother Archie broke through that his brother, Harry, was better. After a lone, breakout season, Archie was on his way to Spurs in a £30m deal.
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Harry Gray could be worth that much in the future; there is that much of a buzz about him. The first choice Leeds United have is very clear – tie him down to a favourable first professional deal.
League Two loan decision?
The most likely scenario is that LUFC fans will see their club sanction a loan deal for Gray to a lower division. Leeds United have a history of doing so with up-and-coming talent.
However, it needs to be the correct club and with stringent conditions attached to any sanctioned deal. The West Yorkshire club will be heartened with the success of loaning highly-regarded midfielder Charlie Crew out to Doncaster Rovers last season.
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18-year-old Crew made 13 appearances for Rovers in their title-winning season. He got the exposure that was needed and was blooded in a competitive league with a decent standard of senior football.
LUFC - leeds united youngster charlie crew
Image courtesy of: PETER CZIBORRA/REUTERS.
That needs to be the same for Gray. He needs a season away from Elland Road and a stay where he will get game time and if given sufficient exposure, the teenager can thrive.
This season, playing as a 16-year-old in Leeds United’s U21s, he scored three goals in seven appearances. He also made his Championship debut in the 6-0 Elland Road thrashing of Stoke City.
Go back to the season before, he was playing up the age groups again as a 15-year-old for the U18s. That season he scored eight goals in 11 U18 Premier League appearances. He is also an England youth international, scoring his first goal recently for the U17s.
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Would a starlet such as he is benefit a drop down the leagues on a temporary move away from Elland Road? Of course, but it has to be the right league and the right club.
Championship and League One football might be too competitive for him on his first move away from Elland Road and Leeds United. League Two, with the right guarantees of game time, would give LUFC a good yardstick by which to measure his development.
Unlikely Premier League blooding
LUFC fans, if they are going to be realistic, will acknowledge that their club will be in a relgation battle next season. The Premier League is an unforgiving place for newly-promoted sides.
For that reason alone, you cannot foresee Leeds United throwing Gray to the lions and blooding him. He’s good, undoubtedly so, but in a team fighting a rearguard action, he will not develop.
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Still, the powers-that-be might be tempted to keep him around the fringes of the first-team matchday squad. Yet, doing so would surely be at a detriment to his development. He’s already shown that he can cope with Premier League 2 levels of competition. The next step is a simple one – he needs to kick on to the next level.
LUFC - Leeds United forward Harry Gray
Image courtesy of: MATTHEW CHILDS/REUTERS.
Leeds United and Daniel Farke are not gung-ho enough to even be considering throwing Gray in at the deep end in a sink-or-swim move. No, there is sense at Elland Road, for once.
With next season gearing up, yes, expect to see Gray with some involvement in preseason. He might even get a runout against the likes of Villarreal or AC Milan before the season begins properly.
But, a Premier League appearance? As fairytale a moment as that would be, Leeds United are – thankfully – a club now built around reality. That reality is not going to allow LUFC to waste the talent that Gray has by keeping him at Elland Road.
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