According to Football Insider, Tottenham are interested in Demarai Gray and have held talks over signing the 24-year-old this summer.
Gray has one year remaining on his deal at Leicester City and may not extend his stay as he’s been on the periphery at the King Power Stadium, so the Foxes risk losing Gray on a free transfer in 2021.
Football Insider say Leicester would rather cash in on Gray’s signature than let him leave for nothing, so Tottenham may be able to broker a deal.
What’s gone wrong for Gray at Leicester?
A lot was expected of the Englishman at Leicester upon his move from Birmingham City in 2016, but Gray has been a disappointment. He’s made 167 appearances in all competitions, scoring 13 goals with 17 assists, but the majority of his outings have come from the bench (55%).
He started only one league game in 2015/16, nine league games in 2016/17, 17 league games in 2017/18, 23 league games in 2018/19 and three league games in 2019/20. Gray has never managed to nail down a starting place and has fallen behind Marc Albrighton, Harvey Barnes and Ayoze Perez in the pecking order.
How much would Gray cost?
CIES Football Observatory say Gray’s market value is €7m-€10m, Transfermarkt believe his asking price is closer to £13m, but Transferzone say Gray is worth €28.8m. Leicester paid £5m for Gray in 2016 and agreed an improved contract worth £55k-per-week/£2.86m-a-year a year later.
City have paid an approximate total of £15m on Gray, so they’re likely to want a similar amount of money through his sale. With the wide-man only racking up 609 minutes of Premier League football last season, his stock is low right now. And with Gray’s contract up in less than 12 months, Leicester may have to accept a lower bid to facilitate his move away.
Summary
We aren’t going to break the bank for players this summer and may have to sell Danny Rose, Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth and Cameron Carter-Vickers to generate funds, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense bringing in an underperforming player.
Gray had potential in his early years at Leicester, but is he really better than Erik Lamela, Steven Bergwijn and Lucas Moura?
In other news, Tottenham have identified a £9m replacement for Serge Aurier