'He was a great player': Archie Gray now names Leeds icon as one of his two idols alongside Lionel Messi

It goes without saying that Archie Gray is one of England’s most talented young players.

Archie Gray declined a chance to join Manchester City in the summer as Pep Guardiola’s side honestly told him that he would not get guaranteed game time, which prompted him to opt for a move to Tottenham Hotspur — a testament to the hype surrounding his name and the wise head on the 18-year-old’s shoulders.

Ange Postecoglou lauded Gray for how well he has fared since heading to the Tottenham, especially in recent weeks while playing as a makeshift centre-back.

The teenager first made his name at his boyhood club Leeds United, a club his father Andy Gray, his grandfather Frank Gray and his great-uncle Eddie Gray have all played for.

The Tottenham midfielder’s younger brothers Harry, Charlie and Jacob also play for Leeds’ academy.

Naturally, the youngster is influenced by Leeds as a whole and when quizzed about his idols, he named an Elland Road hero.

• READ MORE: Archie Gray shares what he now thinks of his Tottenham teammates after initially being ‘star-struck’

Archie Gray says he idolised Leeds United icon Luchiano Becchio

In an interview with Stadium Astro, Gray named Luciano Becchio, who is Leeds’ sixth-highest goalscorer in their history with 87 goals as one of his two footballing role-models growing up.

The Spurs wonderkid said: “Probably, when I was younger, I didn’t get to watch him play much because he was towards the end of his career when I was a really, really young kid, someone I used to watch all the time was Luciano Becchio.”

“I was a ball boy at Leeds and I got to see him pretty much every game and even if I saw him now, I saw him a few times last season and I was like, woah, that’s Becchio. Obviously, probably doesn’t remember me as a ball boy but watching him, he was a great player.”

The second player Gray revealed he always looked up to was the one and only Lionel Messi.

“But probably one in general, I’ll probably just say [Lionel] Messi for what he’s done in the game and I can’t describe how good he is.”

The Englishman seems like a student of the game, with Archie Gray hailing William Saliba by naming him in his dream five-a-side team despite the Frenchman being an Arsenal player.

Archie Gray revealed his father’s reaction to leaving Leeds United for Tottenham

Having such a strong connection to Leeds as a club, Gray become a hometown hero after playing for the first team.

Coming up from the ranks and witnessing several of his family members play for the club, the highly-rated technician’s connection to the Whites is bound to always remain strong.

But Archie Gray’s dad approved the move to Tottenham and so did his grandad, despite their affiliation towards Leeds.

“At the start of the window, I didn’t really know anything about [a transfer to any club] and I was content to stay at Leeds but as soon as I heard Tottenham were coming in, I was like, ‘I need to go there.’

“It’s a huge club and my dad said that too. He came to my room one morning and said ‘look, you’ve got to go to Spurs. It’s a massive club’.”

“My grandad was saying it as well, he’s obviously done pretty well in his career, and he said at some point you’ve got to go to one of the biggest clubs in England and he thinks now is the right time and he thinks Spurs is a massive club as well.”

While Gray pounced at the chance of signing for Spurs, his love for Leeds remains evident, as exemplified by his admiration for Luciano Becchio to this day.