Angus Kinnear confirms Leeds United’s plans to avoid gutting Man City transfer repeat — Leeds All Over 20/1/25
Kris Smith
Leeds United have always taken pride in the quality of their
academy at Thorp Arch and the talents that come through, but such is the way of
the modern game is that elite clubs can simply poach players as they see fit.
Leeds lost Archie Gray in the summer to the tune of
£40million and his first six months at Tottenham – despite still not playing in
his natural position – have only proved how big a talent Leeds knew they had on
their books.
The blow was softened by the fact that his younger brother
is tipped for an equally bright future and remains at the club.
Last season, Leeds were looking forward to the continued
development of Harry Gray’s agemate Finlay Gorman.
Viral footage of the teenager sparked excitement amongst
Leeds fans about his potential to be a first team star, but as quickly as he
became a known Thorp Arch youngster, he was gone to Manchester City.
The Citizens agreed a whopping £5million for the
then-15-year-old, a British record, to see him move across the Pennines to Man
City’s academy.
Gorman’s exit a damning reminder of Leeds’ standing outside
of the elite in England, as Man City were able to convince the creative
attacker to move academies before the Whites could tie him down to a
professional contract at the age of 17.
The club are well aware of this issue, though, and it was
brought up in the most recent Supporters’ Advisory Board meeting on December 9.
Minutes and topics discussed from that meeting were recently
published, to which CEO Angus Kinnear was asked about academy talent retention
and recruitment:
“Anders asked about the academy’s progress. AK says player
retention at academy level can be difficult, but plans are in place to make
further improvements on recruitment/retention.”
The fact that we’ve had two brothers make their way through
the ranks with one becoming a star in the making and a nailed-on England
starter in the future, and the other a Leeds first-team player in waiting says
it all about the strength of our academy.
Leeds’ issue is being able to keep them here long-term with
the lure of the Premier League and the elite clubs as strong as always.
Harry Gray is the big one at the moment that Leeds have to
do everything in their power to keep here for the foreseeable future.