Club in talks to sign Leeds midfielder Archie Gray for record £40m

Brentford are in talks over a £40million deal for Leeds United midfielder Archie Gray after a swift move for the England Under-21 international.

Gray, 18, was on the wanted list of several Premier League clubs in a summer move, but Brentford made the move in an attempt to seal a deal at the weekend.

Talks over the move include around £5m of the package coming in add-ons for the player who came through the Leeds Academy and was named on the bench by Marcelo Bielsa when he was manager.

There are hopes of a deal that would make Gray a record signing for Brentford, with the current most expensive player being Igor Thiago, who was signed from Club Brugge in a £30m deal.

Leeds are expected to sell players this summer following their failure to gain promotion back to the Premier League. Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto are among their young assets.

Eight senior players were set to return at the end of the season from loans, while Robin Koch and Luis Sinisterra have already agreed permanent deals after moving away.

“The sessions with Marcelo were so good,” Gray said in an interview when asked about Bielsa. “People know how harsh they were because a lot was said about it at the time, but I took so much from him. As hard as it was and all the running you did, some of what I learned was invaluable.”

Gray, the great-grandson of former Leeds player and manager Eddie Gray, made 52 appearances last season across a number of positions for Daniel Farke, helping them to the play-off final. He joined the Leeds academy at the age of eight and has represented England junior teams at every age group.