Karl Robinson and Sam Allardyce have lavished praise on Archie Gray following his meteoric rise to the top.

The 18-year-old departed Leeds United in the summer transfer window, with Tottenham Hotspur splashing out about £30m to sign one of the brightest prospects in English football. Gray has been deployed in a variety of positions since making the step up to the Premier League, including full-back and central midfield. The teenager has also admirably filled in as a emergency centre-half due to Spurs' crippling injury list.

Robinson reminisced about having Gray in the Whites squad during their short spell at Elland Road in 2023. A call up to the England Under-17s side scuppered Gray's chances to play under Robinson and Allardyce as United failed to retain their Premier League status.

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Robinson, who joined Allardyce in the dugout as assistant manager for a four-game spell, said: “The problem is, we sat in the office one day and got a phone call to say we're losing four players to international duty.

“When we went into Leeds it was at the back of the World Cup so there was an extension of the Premier League season, and we wanted to keep Archie around the place, but England took him off us.

“We had him training with us when we first went, and there were two more as well [Charlie Crew and Rory Mahardy], so there were three of them that were taken. They would have been squad players, they wouldn't have started granted, but they would have helped in training, and they might have got some minutes on the pitch."

Speaking exclusively on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, the Liverpudlian added: “He [Gray] was a lot younger when we were there but you could see he was technically very good. I never saw him playing where he's currently playing for Spurs [centre back] but it shows you his personality, because his family is in the game, that he’d happily play in any position.

“He's everything I love about football. He just wants to play and it doesn't matter where. He has got a younger brother [Harry Gray], who everyone is raving over. He's a little bit younger than him, and it's just a long list of that family's talent."

Allardyce was keen to show admiration for the Gray family and their longevity of being involved in top-flight football. He said: “Eddie still works at Leeds United and he’s a fantastic advocate for the club, a fantastic guy.

"He'd be gutted that they sold him [Archie]. It was a good move for him as a lad going to Tottenham. Obviously, Leeds needed the money but another Gray gracing the football pitch is great to see.

“But I’ve got to say, not in the memory of man would I ever have seen that lad playing centre half.”