Thorp Arch has been a hot-bed of talent for decades, and Leeds have benefitted from it with regular exposure for young players looking to break into the senior game.
Last season brought the long-awaited emergence of Archie Gray, but he wasn’t the only star talent at the club that ended up moving on for the lure of the Premier League
At the back end of 2023, Leeds saw prized academy talent Finlay Gorman leave the club to head to Manchester City in a package worth a reported £5million to the Whites.
Albeit believed to be a British record for a 15-year-old, it was a sign of the times for Leeds that a club like Man City could tap up one of their gems and tempt him to a move over the Pennines, leaving Leeds powerless.
Angus Kinnear mentioned that deal when speaking on The Square Ball podcast this month:
“The other player, slightly younger, someone like Finlay Gorman, we matched the financial offer, come up with his contractual terms but he didn’t have the relationship with the club Archie Gray had and so he left.
We look at those academy players, we think – I can’t remember the precise numbers – we think there’s 39 players in the Manchester United academy or Manchester City academy who live in a Yorkshire postcode, so you have this hugely aggressive recruitment drive from two of the biggest clubs in world football right into our heartland where we’ve developed so much great talent over the years.
“So, we’re not in a strong position when it comes to negotiating with these players, we have to see to their demands and create a career path and sign contracts that are going to facilitate the career path they want.”
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