After a ‘fitness concern’ and a Bellingham comparison, a Leeds United kid has been pulled from international camp.
Leeds United midfielder Archie Gray will not join England’s Under-19 squad this month as the club wishes to rest the 17-year-old after his involvement in the first half of the 2023/24 season.
Despite his lack of senior experience, the teenager has started each of Leeds’ seven league and cup matches this season, adapting to first-team play impressively.
Gray made his professional debut against Cardiff City last month and has remained in Daniel Farke’s squad since in the absence of what the German considers sufficient replacements for the purpose Gray performs.
The additions of Ilia Gruev and Glen Kamara will alleviate Gray’s minutes burden, but the decision has been made to keep Gray at Thorp Arch over the impending international break.
Gray was named to England’s Under-19 squad for the first time this week ahead of games against Germany and Switzerland, but due to his involvement with Leeds’ senior team and a’slight fitness concern,’ the club has prioritized a period of rest.Few players Gray’s age have featured as substantially in the Championship in the last five seasons as the youthful midfielder in 2023/24. Gray has played 446 league minutes in five appearances, including starts in the Carabao Cup First and Second Rounds.
Only six other 17-year-olds have exceeded the 400-minute threshold in a single Championship season since the start of 2019/20. Jude Bellingham (2019/20), Joe Gelhardt (2019/20), and Harvey Elliott (2020/21) are among them.
During their individual seasons, Jude Bellingham and Elliott played over 2,000 minutes, but James barely surpassed 1,000 minutes. In contrast to Gray’s several starts, Gelhardt, Phillips, and Jobe Bellingham all appeared for less than 600 minutes scattered between multiple outings.
‘ union issued a report earlier this summer outlining concerns about player welfare in light of the increasingly crowded professional football season. The paper warned of threats to ‘players’ mental health, professions, and personal life,’ as well as the fact that ‘today’s finest young players…have played up to double the prior generation’.
“At the age of 22, Vinicius Jr has already played 18,876 minutes of club and national team football, which is more than twice as much as former Brazil playmaker Ronaldinho did at the same age.”
“France’s Kylian Mbappe has played 26,952 minutes at the age of 24, 48 percent more minutes than Thierry Henry at the same age.”
“Jude Bellingham will have played more than 30 percent more competitive football minutes by his 20th birthday later this month than Wayne Rooney at the same age,” according to the newspaper.
“Evidence shows that cannibalisation of the match calendar is putting more mental and physical stress on today’s elite players than the previous generation,” stated FIFPro General Secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffmann.
“Even though some are having to reduce their commitments or leave the game early, there is no sign of a solution to protect them,” Hoffman added, reflecting on Gray’s current situation, which has resulted in the player’s departure from England Under-19 duty in order to protect the player.
Leeds’ next league game is against Millwall in just over two weeks, and Farke expects Gray will be available after a brief rest.
These minutes were also accumulated across a complete season, as compared to Leeds’ inexperienced midfielder, who is only one month into the current season.
Despite the additions of Gruev and Kamara, Gray is likely to play more than 1,500 minutes of league action this season. Leeds have an obligation to manage Gray’s emotional and physical well-being; by adding Bulgarian and Finnish international midfielders, Gray will now play less, potentially reducing burnout or exposing him to an increased danger of injury.
FIFPro is the professional footballers’ union.
