Leeds United made an exciting appointment over the summer as they decided to bring in German head coach Daniel Farke to replace Sam Allardyce in the dugout.
The 47-year-old tactician came through the door with plenty of experience at Championship level under his belt with two league title successes with Norwich City earlier in his career.
Whilst with the Canaries, the ex-Bundesliga manager previously talked about his want to develop and work with talented young players to help them fulfill their potential.
He worked with a plethora of talent during his time at Carrow Road; including the likes of Max Aarons, Ben Godfrey, James Maddison, and Emiliano Buendia, among others.
The Whites may have hoped that Farke would be able to translate some of that success over to Yorkshire and the early signs are incredibly promising as Archie Gray has established himself as a genuine first-team ace for the boss this season.
Archie Gray’s market value at the start of the year
In January of this year, FootballTransfers placed the versatile dynamo’s xTV (Expected Transfer Value) at just €1.8m (£1.6m) as he had yet to make his senior bow for the club.
He was emerging as a star for the U21s and looked to be a promising up-and-coming player who could make the breakthrough at first-team level in the future.
Gray made 26 appearances for the U21s and contributed with one goal and five assists from a central midfield position, which earned him a place on the bench for six Premier League games last term.
Gray’s current market value
At the time of writing (31/10/2023), FootballTransfers has his xTV at a whopping €6.5m (£5.7m) and this means that his market value has soared up by 261% since the start of the year.
Despite only having turned 17 in March, Farke placed his faith in the teenage whiz at the start of this season and has trusted him to be a first-team regular at Championship level.
Gray has started 11 league games and featured in 15 senior matches in all competitions, with three of his outings even coming out of his natural position as a right-back.
His tough-tackling nature as a young player in a physical Championship league has been impressive to watch. He currently ranks within the top 19% of players in his position at that level for tackles made (2.41) per 90.
This shows that the superb gem, who was hailed as “incredible” by ex-Leeds forward and pundit Jermaine Beckford, has been an above-average tackler among his positional peers.
This suggests that Gray is ready to deal with the physicality of first-team football, which is backed up by his 54% duel success rate this term, and is deserving of his regular spot in the squad.
Farke’s knack for working with and developing young players is already proving to be a success at Elland Road as the 17-year-old whiz’s value has soared this year and the ex-Norwich chief has, therefore, struck gold with him.
Hopefully, the German boss can continue to work his magic with Gray, and other academy starlets, over the months and years to come in Yorkshire.