Leeds United confirm £40m switch with Archie Gray and Joe Rodon trading places

One of the stars of last season has returned to Leeds United in a permanent £10m move for Joe Rodon, while Archie Gray’s sale to Tottenham Hotspur has also been confirmed. Rodon ignored Premier League interest to return to the Championship with a club he fell in love with last season.

The Wales international’s arrival will at least soften the undoubted blow of losing Gray, an 18-year-old prodigy who came through the youth ranks and had the chance to extend his family’s great dynasty. The teenager had a non-promotion clause in his contract and this was triggered by the Premier League outfit at an eventual value of around £40m.

The transfers are considered separate deals by the Whites, but both were inevitably aided by the other making progress. Only two outfield players saw more minutes than Rodon for United last season as he played a key part in the Championship’s second-best defence.

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Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Southampton are all understood to have made enquiries about taking the 26-year-old with them to the top flight after a stellar campaign with Leeds. However, Rodon has chosen to return to what he started with Daniel Farke and signed a four-year contract at Elland Road.

Gray’s sale follows a weekend which started with him completing a medical at Brentford before the Bees failed to agree on a payment structure with Leeds. That collapsed deal alerted Spurs to the opportunity and Daniel Levy swooped, meeting Gray’s release clause and then agreeing on a payment structure with United.