Chelsea target travels for medical as club-record fee agreed - but Tottenham 'hijack' could still happen

Chelsea target Archie Gray is closing in on a move to Premier League and London rivals Brentford amid reports Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly considering making an 11th hour offer as they weigh up the possibility of hijacking the Bees’ £40m move for the teenager.

As reported by the YEP on Saturday, Gray is close to sealing a move to the Gtech Community Stadium. Brentford are in pole position to land the player after it emerged on Saturday he had agreed personal terms with Thomas Frank’s side and is set to have a medical in West London. Leeds and Brentford have agreed on a £40m deal but the transfer is not yet finalised with the clubs still in talks over the payment schedule. Brentford’s transfer record is currently their £30m signing of Igor Thiago, who agreed to join the West London club from Club Brugge back in February, meaning Gray will become their club record arrival if the deal is completed.

Given that the deal has yet to be finalised, other clubs could still swoop late on with one of those reported to be Tottenham. Spurs and Chelsea were both understood to have held talks with Leeds over a deal for Gray while Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool had all tracked the youngster’s progress intently.

According to talkSPORT, Tottenham are considering matching Brentford’s offer for Gray but they will need to make a decision quickly as the 18-year-old continues to go through with his switch to Brentford. The Bees will be keen to wrap up the deal quickly and avoid a late attempt by Spurs, and possibly Chelsea, to disrupt the deal.

Gray first came to the attention of Leeds fans back in December 2021 when, aged just 15, he was named on the bench by then manager Marcelo Biela for a clash against Arsenal. He shot to prominence under Daniel Farke last season, as he played over 4,000 minutes of football across the entire campaign at right-back and in defensive midfield.

Speaking to the YEP earlier this year, club chairman Paraag Marathe was unable to rule out Gray leaving Elland Road as Leeds battled to stay within Profit and Sustainability regulations. He said: “If I can paint the big picture for you, there are certain things that we need to do and we will make sure we are fully compliant with P&S, as we always have been. And there are certain trade-offs that we have to make and so we'll have to get to the drawing board and figure out which moves we have to make sure that we are compliant. It's too early to say.

“Obviously Archie is a tremendous player, as are all of the players who put in so much effort for us, but you know, every season brings change and so I can't yet comment on it, but we'll see what happens."

Gray’s move to Brentford, if completed, will be the Bees second arrival of the summer with Thiago set to officially join the West London club on Monday. He was named the Europa Conference League Young Player of the Season, as the 22-year-old striker scored five goals in 10 games as the Brugge made it to the semi-final.