Crystal Palace plotting Leeds United transfer swoop | OneFootball

Leeds United have had a somewhat indifferent first eight matches of the 2023-24 Championship season, but there have been some clear positives to take from that period.

And one of those is young midfielder Archie Gray, who started in the club's first seven league fixtures of the season, with new head coach Daniel Farke giving him the chance to impress alongside new recruit Ethan Ampadu in the engine room.

And unsurprisingly considering how comfortable he has looked in the second tier of English football, there is already interest in Gray from the Premier League.

According to Alan Nixon via Patreon, Crystal Palace have been watching Gray for a while at youth level and for England, but his emergence into the United first-team has only strengthened the Eagles' desire to land the 17-year-old.

Nixon claims that Leeds may have to cash in if they do not win promotion at the end of the 2023-24 season, meaning that it looks likely to be a potential signing for the 2024-25 campaign and not the upcoming January transfer window.

What is Archie Gray's contract situation at Leeds?

As far as Gray's contract goes, Leeds for now will be pretty relaxed when it comes to the youngster.

He was on a scholarship during most of the 2022-23 season, but not long after he turned 17, Gray signed a full-time contract with the Whites, with FA rules stating that you have to be that age at the very least to become professional.

A few days after his birthday, Gray put pen-to-paper on a new agreement, which lasts until the summer of 2025, according to Leeds' official website.

However, going into next summer there will be only one year left on his contract if he does not extend his time at Elland Road before then, so that is when things could get a little bit worrying should United not win promotion back to the Premier League immediately.

Would Archie Gray be a good signing for Crystal Palace?

Quite a few of Palace's midfield options for the deeper roles are getting towards their late 20's now, with Will Hughes and Jefferson Lerma both in that age bracket and Jeffrey Schlupp also 30 years of age too.

There are younger alternatives such as Cheick Doucoure and Naouirou Ahamada, but their scouting of Adam Wharton for a number of months suggests that another young player for their engine room is a priority in the next 12 months.

Whilst Wharton has impressed for Blackburn, Gray is considerably younger and has jumped into a Leeds midfield with a lot of expectation and looked rather comfortable so far, albeit he was rested by Daniel Farke this past weekend against Watford.

But even though it is ambitious of Palace to target Gray because of his exceptionally high potential, it seems rather unlikely that they'll win his signature unless Leeds happen to stay in the Championship next season - and even that may not be enough.