Manchester United are reportedly targeting a teenage prodigy in whom Liverpool are also believed to have an interest.
According to Football Transfers, the Old Trafford hierarchy admire Leeds United midfielder Archie Gray, who ‘suits their blueprint of recruiting young, emerging English talent’.
However, it’s understood that there’s ‘concern’ that the 17-year-old would give short shrift to any approaches from Erik ten Hag’s side, owing to the bitter and long-standing rivalry between the Whites and the Premier League outfit.
The Daily Mail reported in November that the teenager – whose club value him in the region of £40m-£50m – had attracted interest from Liverpool.
While LFC’s links with Gray appear to have cooled since those initial links a couple of months ago, the Anfield hierarchy may be buoyed by these reports over the midfielder being potentially doubtful of moving to Man United due to their rivalry with Leeds.
Although that didn’t stop the likes of Eric Cantona, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Smith swapping Elland Road for Old Trafford in the past, the 17-year-old is the fourth consecutive generation of his family to play for the Whites, so he’s bound to feel those ties more strongly than most.
Whether that’d give Liverpool any advantage over the Manchester side is open to question, although it might offer encouragement to the Reds if they do intend to test the waters for the England underage international.
Gray has been a regular at Leeds this season, starting 22 league games and making 27 appearances altogether (Transfermarkt), but making the step up to carving out a fixed place in Jurgen Klopp’s side would be a big ask, even for someone of his talent.
Similar to Harvey Elliott, who came to Anfield as a 16-year-old in 2019, LFC may dispatch him on loan to build up further experience, in the hope that he’d then be ready to establish himself in the first team on Merseyside. His name could be one to watch over the coming weeks and months.
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