Leeds United’s Archie Gray set for Brentford medical after agreeing personal terms over transfer — The Athletic 29/6/24
By David Ornstein
Archie Gray is set to undergo a medical at Brentford after
agreeing personal terms to join the west London club from Leeds United.
A host
of Premier League and other European teams have been pursuing the 18-year-old
midfielder, however Brentford manoeuvred themselves into the strongest position
and are now working to close out a deal.
If all goes according to plan on the player’s side,
Brentford can be expected to reach an agreement with Leeds for a fee in the
region of £35million.
Interest
remains from elsewhere and Leeds are also not resigned to losing such a
highly-rated talent, although their financial position may leave them with no
choice but to reluctantly sanction his exit.
The England Under-21 international enjoyed a breakthrough
campaign with Leeds last term — making 28 appearances in all competitions — and
was a regular, in both midfield and at right-back, as Daniel Farke’s side
reached the play-off final.
He is under contract at Elland Road until 2028. Gray’s
previous deal with the club was due to expire in 2025 but he signed a
three-year extension in January.
Gray came through the club’s academy system and was selected
in a first-team Premier League squad at the age of 15 by former manager Marcelo
Bielsa.
He was named on the bench a further five times in 2021-22
without featuring before his performances for Leeds in the Championship helped
earn him a number of admirers.
Leeds are under pressure to sell to help balance the books
and not run the risk of any potential profitability and sustainability rules
(PSR) punishment.
Following their failure to achieve promotion back to the top
flight, Leeds ‘acceptable loss’ limit under PSR is set to drop from about £83m
to about £61m over a three-year cycle.
As a homegrown player the fee recouped for Gray would be
accounted for as pure profit.
Asked by The Athletic in May whether Gray would be sold,
chairman Paraag Marathe said: “It’s a little too early to answer specific
questions. I can’t talk on specific players right now.
“If I can paint the big picture, there are certain things we
need to do and we’ll make sure we’re fully compliant with PnS. There are
certain trade-offs we have to make. We have to get to the drawing board to work
out which moves we have to make.
“Obviously, Archie’s a tremendous player, but every season
brings change. I can’t yet comment but we’ll see what happens.”
Brentford finished 16th in the Premier League last season to
ensure a fourth-successive campaign in the top flight under Thomas Frank after
earning promotion in 2020-21.