Gabby Agbonlahor suggested Leeds United won’t get promoted if they sell more of their best players after Jeff Stelling said supporters will be “seething” over the sale of Archie Gray.
The pair were discussing the sale of Gray to Tottenham, which was confirmed on Tuesday (2 July, Spurs X account), live on talkSPORT after a transfer to Brentford fell through.
The 18-year-old’s move to the capital is worth a reported £40million [Fabrizio Romano, 2 July] with Joe Rodon moving the other way in a separate deal [Graham Smyth, 1 July].
Jeff Stelling and Gabby Agbonlahor were live on talkSPORT (2 July) speaking about the Gray transfer saga before the deals were announced.
“Leeds fans are absolutely beside themselves, Archie Gray is one of their own, he’s only 18!” Stelling said.
“What are the Leeds board thinking about?
“I think Archie might have been content to have another year or so at least before he moved on.
“But if I’m a Leeds fan this morning, I’m absolutely seething.”
Agbonlahor replied: “You don’t want to lose one of your young talents, do you?
“But with the problems they’ve got financially Jeff, you know not getting promoted affected them, they’ve got to sell.
“Leeds have to be careful, [if they] go selling all their best players it’ll be difficult to get promoted next season.”
What Leeds United need to do to ensure promotion next season
Last season, the Whites narrowly failed to secure promotion to the Premier League after falling short at the final hurdle.
Daniel Farke’s men had a stellar season and managed to rack up 90 points.
As the 2024/25 transfer window is underway, preparation for the upcoming campaign has started.
And, it’s not a surprise to see Leeds already being touted as one of the early favourites to make their way into the top flight.
However, supporters will be hoping that the sale of Gray means they have a better chance of keeping the likes of Willy Gnonto and Crysencio Summerville at Elland Road because losing their best assets would – naturally – impact their chances of getting out of the second tier.
Although the influx of money would allow the club to reinvest across the squad, finding players who could replace them certainly would not come cheap to the Whites.
Summerville was the Championship’s Player of the Season last term and, although his departure looked imminent, the West Yorkshire outfit has eased their PSR concerns with the sale of Gray so their hand certainly appears strengthened.