21 Under 21: Archie Gray (Leeds United)
Episode #3 | George Elek and Ali Maxwell list the most outstanding young players in the EFL.
21 Under 21 will be released every weekday at noon in June, with paid subscribers unlocking early access to all video content.
“A great example of why we shouldn’t pigeon-hole players” — George Elek
Archie Gray
Leeds United — Championship, 2023/24:
Born: 12 March 2006
Position: Right-back / Central midfielder
League appearances: 47
League starts: 43
🤯 It’s easy to forget that he didn’t make a senior appearance until opening day
You know a young sportsperson is incredibly talented when their age precedes their name. In recent months, we’ve seen and heard a lot about the darting phenom, 16-year-old-Luke-Littler (now 17). We’ve also seen and heard plenty about 17-year-old-Archie-Gray (now 18).
Son of Andy and great-nephew of Eddie, Archie is Leeds to the bones. More than that, he’s an outstanding young player. Despite spending the majority of his youth career playing in midfield, Gray slotted in at right-back for much of the 2023/24 campaign, as a proper all-rounder whom Daniel Farke could trust to defend diligently. Given Gray’s maturity, it’s easy to forget that he didn’t make a senior appearance until opening day in 23/24.
Nevertheless — as you’ll see below — the work of “slotting in” doesn’t necessarily do wonders for his numbers. Despite clearly passing the eye test, it’s interesting that he doesn’t score that well when it comes to the data. But you have to keep in mind that Gray, a teenager in his first full season, made the 13th most tackles in the league for a defence that kept the most clean sheets playing as full-back, which is not his natural position.
With Leeds having missed out on promotion, the odds of Gray leaving Elland Road this summer have shortened significantly. Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool and Crystal Palace have all been linked with the Championship Young Player of the Year. Clearly, given his affinity and family ties with the club, it would be a wrench for Gray to move on, but Leeds may be forced to cash in on their much-coveted youngster.
📈 At a glance
Pizza charts informed by match data. Each chart rates a chosen player from 0-99 across different metrics (e.g. Dribbles) according to their “percentile rank”. A 75 score shows a player outperforming 75% of other players in the dataset. Each dataset is position-specific. Negative metrics are reversed. [Credit: Riley Roberts.]
▶️ Watch: Episode 3
21 Under 21 was created by George Elek and Ali Maxwell, with words from Huw Davies, Matt Watts and Sam Parry, and data vis by Riley Roberts.