Farke struck gold on Leeds star who came from "the school of Haaland"
Leeds United bolstered their options in the centre-forward position in the summer transfer window by swooping to sign Dominic Calvert-Lewin on a free transfer.
The former England international was available after his Everton contract ran out at the end of June, and the Whites moved to add some Premier League experience to their squad.
Calvert-Lewin scored three goals and missed 16 ‘big chances’ in the top-flight for the Toffees in the 2024/25 campaign, per Sofascore, which means that he was a risky signing for Leeds after such a dismal year in front of goal.
So far, the English striker has scored one goal and missed four ‘big chances’ in five appearances in the Premier League for the Whites this term, which suggests that he is on course for similar struggles in the final third.
Daniel Farke will be hoping that the experienced number nine can turn his form around and start to finish the high-quality chances that will come his way.
Leeds may need a reliable and consistent Premier League striker to fire them to safety this season, which is why it remains a source of regret that the club were unable to sign Erling Haaland many years ago.
The story of how Leeds United almost signed Erling Haaland
When the Norway international, who is now a superstar at Manchester City, was 17 years old and playing for Moldes, Leeds came incredibly close to bringing him to Elland Road.
Agent Hayden Evans once revealed that he offered Haaland to Victor Orta, the sporting director of the Whites at the time, and brought the young striker and his family over to Thorp Arch.
He added: “They were in the middle of a first-team session and [Thomas] Christiansen at the time stopped the session and came over to Erling, hugged him and talked about football – that went really well – and Christiansen was impressive, frankly.”
Evans also revealed that Orta had a Leeds shirt with Haaland’s name on the back, and that the teenage forward was keen to make the move because he was a Leeds supporter at the time, having been born in the city.
However, the agent claimed that the deal broke down because Molde wanted £4m for the Norwegian talent and the Whites were unable to commit to that amount of money in the Championship, whilst Orta’s idea for Juventus to sign and then loan him to West Yorkshire did not go through either.
Since then, Haaland has scored 94 goals in 104 Premier League matches and 52 goals in 50 appearances in the Champions League in his career, per Transfermarkt, to become one of the best attackers in world football.
What Leeds would give to have a player of his quality in their bid to avoid relegation from the top-flight this season. Although, if they had signed him at the age of 17 and he progressed as he did with Molde, RB Salzburg, and Borussia Dortmund, the Whites may not have had him on their books for long.
The West Yorkshire outfit, however, produced an incredibly valuable young talent who was then compared to the brutish centre-forward from their academy in Archie Gray.
Leeds hit the jackpot with Archie Gray
Leeds hit the jackpot with the English youngster after he rose through the ranks at Thorp Arch before emerging as a key player under Farke in the 2023/24 campaign.
The Whites did not have to deal with a selling club wanting millions of pounds for Gray, as Molde did with Haaland, because he spent his entire academy career with the club, which meant that the versatile star did not cost them a penny.
He made 11 appearances for the U18s and 26 appearances for the U21s before Farke decided to make him a permanent member of the first-team squad at the age of 17, the same age that Haaland was when he came close to a move to West Yorkshire.
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Along with making a breakthrough in first-team football at a similar age, the English starlet was also compared to the Manchester City star by journalist Phil Hay.
Ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, the reporter said: “Archie Gray, he just seems to come from the genetically modified school of Erling Haaland. Every time you see him he gets taller and bigger. He looks like he’s about 25 when he’s actually 17. He’s just physically amazing and also technically very good.”
Farke clearly saw the same things that Hay saw from the teenage prospect, because the 2023/24 campaign was Gray’s breakthrough season in the first-team.
The 17-year-old wonderkid started 40 of his 44 appearances in the Championship that term, whilst he has also started all three of the club’s play-off games, including the final against Southampton at Wembley.
Appearances
44
Starts
40
Assists
2
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.8
Ball recoveries per game
4.5
Duel success rate
55%
Dribble success rate
57%
As you can see in the table above, Gray held his own from a physical perspective, winning 55% of his duels, which backs up Hay’s comments about his physique.
The Whites hit the jackpot with the England U21 international, who came through their academy system, because Farke was willing to put his faith in the youngster to start week-in-week-out at right-back as a 17 and 18-year-old.
As a result of the platform that the manager provided him with, Gray’s performances in the Championship at such a young age led to him sealing a big-money move away from Elland Road in the summer of 2024.
Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur swooped in to sign the English youngster for a fee of £30m, which meant that Leeds made a £30m profit on a player they did not have to pay a fee to sign at academy level.
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Therefore, the Whites struck gold with Gray because they developed a £30m talent from their academy system in an era where homegrown players can sometimes have their pathways blocked by expensive signings from other clubs.