England boss Gareth Southgate has praised Leeds United talent Archie Gray as a potential future England international.
One former Leeds United player will be gutted this afternoon having missed out on the England squad.
Kalvin Phillips has been left out after struggling on loan at West Ham United and his chances of playing at Euro 2024 have been seriously dented.
The way Phillips has seen his career go since Euro 2020 is a real shame and Leeds supporters are probably gutted for him too.
Phillips is still a success story from the Leeds ranks and another one is really emerging in Archie Gray…
Gareth Southgate on Archie Gray
Gray is a product of the Leeds youth ranks and is flying the flag for the Gray family.
Father Andy Gray played for Leeds, as did grandfather Frank Gray and great-uncle Eddie Gray.
Leeds fans have loved seeing Gray break through and become a key first-team player at the age of just 18.
Yet there is one huge difference between Archie and the other members of the Gray family; he is playing for England.
Andy, Frank and Eddie all played for Scotland but Archie has turned out for England from Under-15 to Under-20 level.
Gray’s performances for Leeds have put him on the radar of England boss Gareth Southgate, who has now offered praise to the teenager.
Southgate told a press conference this afternoon that England have contingency plans for upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.
That will effectively see England bring up Under-21 players if needed and Gray was one of those mentioned by Southgate.
The England boss feels that Gray is doing ‘very, very well’ and put him in the same conversation as top Premier League talents Kobbie Mainoo, Harvey Elliott and Rico Lewis.
“We obviously have contingency plans in every area of the pitch, some of those will be with the Under-21’s,” said Southgate. “There are some players in the Under-21’s who are doing exceptionally well, especially in midfield… the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Harvey Elliott, Rico [Lewis], who was with us last time, Archie Gray at Leeds, who’s doing very, very well, I have to say,” he added.
If Gray continues to develop, then senior England caps will surely come.
That he is even being discussed like this whilst in the Championship is a sign of his immense quality and he should be hugely proud of his development so far.
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