Archie Gray won’t be happy despite starting in England U21s recent victory

Add as preferred source on Google

One of Tottenham’s most talented young players was recently handed a start while representing his nation, however he likely won’t be best pleased with the opportunity he was handed.

Spurs paid big money to sign Archie Gray from Leeds a year ago, although he did not get the chance to show what he could do on a regular basis.

Despite making frequent appearances under Ange Postecoglu, a lot of these came at centre-back due to the ongoing injury crisis that they suffered throughout the campaign.

Both Cristian Romero and Micky van der Ven missed a lot of action in the 2024/25 season, and the Englishman filled into makeshift defensive setups on multiple occasions.

Archie Gray forced to play out of position for England U21s

The youngster will have been hoping that a trip representing England U21s would have given him the chance for minutes in his more regular position of central midfield, however these were instead filled by Jode Bellingham and Lewis Miley.

This saw Gray slot into centre-back again, featuring alongside impressive Chelsea youngster Josh Acheampong in a back two who kept a clean sheet against Kazakhstan in a 2-0 win.

He now has 13 appearances for the U21s under his belt, and was in the squad who were crowned Champions of Europe in Slovakia over the summer.

The Spurs man picked up a yellow card in the game, and will now be looking ahead to a return to North London to try and win over Thomas Frank.

Gray facing fight to convince Frank

Gray started Spurs’ first Premier League game of the season in his preferred role of central midfield, however he did not feature in either of the following games.

The midfield roles have been filled by Joao Paulinha, Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Sarr, and competition has been high for places in an overall positive start to the campaign.

The Englishman will be hoping that a drastic increase in the amount of fixtures in the coming weeks will see him handed more opportunities to prove his worth to his manager.

With Romero on the way back from injury, there will certainly be hope that he does not have to fill in at the back anymore for his club, even if he is for his country.