WHEN Thomas Frank took over at Tottenham, fans quickly began fantasising over what the Dane could do with Archie Gray.
Frank had proven himself a master-developer of young talent at Brentford and in 19-year-old Gray, he had one of the most promising young English players around to mould as he liked.
Supporters, like Gray himself, have had to play a waiting game to see signs of progress.
That is thanks in part to a calf injury but mainly due to tinkering Frank preferring others in his midfield, more often than not Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur.
The teenager has been largely reduced to cameos off the bench or having to fill in in defence, like he selflessly did for predecessor Ange Postecoglou last term.
But over the last week, Frank has given Gray a shot as his starting No6 in back-to-back home wins over Brentford and Slavia Prague – and been rewarded with two impressive displays.
Now, as Spurs head to Nottingham Forest, the club almost as synonymous with the Gray family as Leeds United, the time feels right to give young Archie the chance to make that position his own.
He could be the beating heart of a young, hungry Spurs side including Xavi Simons, Micky van de Ven, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Bergvall under Frank that can grow together in the coming years – just like the thrilling team Mauricio Pochettino nurtured in the mid 2010s.
It would certainly be something which supporters – some of whom already seem unconvinced of Frank for his pragmatic instincts – could get behind.
Gray became the world’s fourth most expensive 18-year-old when he joined from Leeds for £40million two summers ago.
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He comes from rich footballing stock including grandad Frank Gray, who won the 1980 European Cup with Forest, great uncle Eddie Gray, a living Leeds legend, and dad Andy, who also played for both iconic clubs.
When you glance at Gray’s playing time last season, it looks like a hugely successful first campaign in the Premier League for one so young.
And in many ways it was, with a whopping 48 appearances racked up in all competitions and a Europa League winner’s medal to boot.
Yet many of those games played were as an emergency centre-back due to Spurs’ central defensive injury crisis or filling in at full-back.
The impression of Gray for many come the end of the campaign was that he was Tottenham’s answer to Phil Neville, a utility man ready and willing to do a job in whatever position requested of him.
By all accounts, Gray is the kind of character who would play in goal if his manager asked him to.
But it is understood the position he wants to play long term is in midfield as a No6 or a No8, and that he does not want to be pigeon-holed as a Jack of all trades, master of none.
Gray had only ever played in midfield, from his school days to the Leeds academy, until Daniel Farke played him right-back in the Whites first team two seasons ago.
He then had to re-learn another new position from scratch last term when Postecoglou pitched him in at centre-back in the absence of Cristian Romero, Van de Ven, Ben Davies and Radu Dragusin.
Postecoglou rated Gray highly and felt he would be a top midfielder in the future, but did not believe the teenager was ready to play in that position regularly in the Premier League.
Gray would often line up as a defender in training under the Australian, whether he was set to start in the coming game or not.
Position change
But it has been a different story under Frank who has had Gray training as a midfielder pretty much throughout his tenure so far, even though he too has played the versatile youngster in defence at times.
That has helped with Gray’s adaptation back to his preferred position, as has his work with individual development coach Cameron Campbell.
Ex-Rangers and RB Leipzig staff-member Campbell was hired in the summer for that role, which Frank himself held 20 years ago at Danish minnows Lyngby, working closely with a teenage Christian Norgaard.
The one-on-one focus, which involves greater analysis and an individualised player programme, is understood to have been beneficial to Gray, as has learning off experienced pros like Palhinha and Bentancur.
Though any fans who seem to think the youngster has bulked up of late may be surprised to hear he is of a similar weight to what he was last season.
Gray has certainly looked a more developed holding midfielder in the last week with his tactically-savvy displays.
He regularly dropped into full-back when Djed Spence marauded forward against Slavia, just as Yemor Yarmolyuk used to do for Frank’s Brentford last term when Keane Lewis-Potter rampaged up the pitch.
Only Van de Ven had a better passing completion percentage than Gray in both games, and only the ultra-combative Palhinha had more tackles.
And at No6, Gray has not even shown off arguably his best asset, his running power.
This Sunday, the Durham-born starlet will lock horns with Elliot Anderson if he is given his third start in a row.
Anderson, 22, now looks a shoo-in to start as Thomas Tuchel’s No6 at the World Cup.
Yet at the start of the summer, it was not even clear if he would be behind Gray in the midfield pecking order at the Under-21 Euros.
In the end, boss Lee Carsley prioritised players like Anderson and Alex Scott for whom the tournament would be their last at that age group, using younger players like Gray and Ethan Nwaneri sparingly.
He had done the same for the 2023 tournament, leaving out Rico Lewis from the squad entirely and largely playing Harvey Elliott from the bench.
Gray was left disappointed not to earn more starts but it was hard to argue with the strategy given England went all the way to lift the trophy, just as they had done two years prior.
It was Anderson’s time then.
If Frank sticks with him, it could be Gray’s time now.
