Archie Gray believes Tottenham Hotspur have a “golden” chance to end their 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League this season.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have endured a difficult campaign to date. They are 13th in the Premier League and have exited both domestic cup competitions.
But Europe offers an opportunity to end their campaign on a high with many bookmakers making Spurs favourites to win the Europa League ahead of their round of 16 tie with AZ Alkmaar, which begins next week.
Gray, 18, has enjoyed a promising breakthrough campaign despite Spurs’ issues and on Thursday was named Men’s Young Player of the Year at the London Football Awards.
Speaking to ESPN afterwards, Gray was asked about the club’s wait for silverware dating back to the 2008 League Cup — something Postecoglou vowed to resolve by claiming he “always wins things” in his second season at a club.
“It is not something we speak of because we know the opportunity that we’ve got is golden, especially in the Europa League, with the squad we’ve got and people coming back from injuries, we know we can change that [trophy record],” he said.
“We are just focusing on the next game and being carried away. That [winning the Europa League] is definitely the goal but we are not getting carried away. It is the Europa League next game but we’re just taking it each game at a time.”
Gray has made 35 appearances — the majority out of position at centre-back rather than his natural midfield role — since arriving from Leeds United last summer in a deal worth more than £40million ($50.4m)
The England under-21 international hailed Spurs captain Son Heung-Min’s leadership skills since joining the club.
“He’s definitely a world class player and as a person, he’s probably one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met,” Gray said.
“Ever since I first moved to the club, he always sat down and had breakfast with me every morning which for a new player at the club — you look at players like Sonny, Madders [James Maddison], all of them in the squad to be fair — you wouldn’t really expect them to go out of their way to speak to the new 18-year-old who’s just come from a Championship club.
“To be fair to them, they’ve helped me settle in really well and everyone has been amazing with me.”
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