Tottenham have their own 'Rodri and Declan Rice' in their ranks reckons Thomas Frank

Archie Gray can be as good as Premier League superstars Rodri and Declan Rice, reckons his Tottenham boss Thomas Frank.

The 19-year-old will return to Leeds United on Saturday afternoon 15 months on from this £40million move to north London. Grayhas already made 51 appearances for Spurs, just one less than his tally at Leeds, with his versatility vital as he has turned out as a centre-back, in both full-back slots and in his more natural midfield role.

Now he has a head coach in Frank who tried to sign him at Brentford last summer, only for Spurs and former boss Ange Postecoglou to convince Gray to join them instead at the last moment.

"Let's put it this way, yes we spoke with him, but he ended up at Tottenham and maybe that was good because I still have the chance to work with him!" admitted Frank. "It’s one of those things. No matter where you are and what club you’re in, sometimes you go for targets and you can’t make it for whatever reason.

"What I am happy with is what I see from Archie here and I believe he’s got a big future ahead."

Gray helped Spurs grab a point at Bodo/Glimt on his Champions League debut on Tuesday night and Frank sees the youngster's future firmly as a midfielder and believes he has the potential to reach the level of Manchester City and Arsenal stars Rodri and Rice.

"I see him as a midfielder who can play six or eight. That is his position and these days midfielders need to be more complete. You need to be a little bit of a six, a little bit of eight and 10 and two of the best in the world right now are probably Rodri and Declan Rice," said the Spurs boss.

"They can do a little bit of everything. I see Archie, and they are big names to compare him to, but I see he has got the same potential."

Gray comes from top footballing pedigree with his dad Andy having played 51 times in the Premier League for Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland, while his grandfather is Frank Gray, who won the First Division title with Leeds and the European Cup with Forest. Archie is also the great nephew of Leeds legend Eddie Gray and on top of that his 16-year-old brother has already made his debut in the Championship last season for United.

"I definitely don’t treat them any different, I just see them as an individual that I try to help in the best possible way," Frank said of players like Gray coming from top footballing stock.

"You can say that sometimes there is something they maybe have got a little bit more in with the blood, which I think Archie has got, he seems to understand that he needs to work hard. The foundation, if you want to achieve anything, you need to do that. I think his understanding of the game is good as well. So those two bits and the discipline, I think are key areas if you want to achieve anything. So maybe that is from the blood of the family."

Gray will be looking to make the team against his boyhood club at Elland Road and prevent the extension of Tottenham's international break curse. The north London side have lost their past seven matches before each break, leaving their fans with two weeks of misery before the Premier League returns.

Frank lost his first attempt at breaking that run with a miserable performance at home against Bournemouth in August.

"We have a fantastic stat on that and we performed absolutely top in that game!" joked the sarcastic Dane .

"I really, really do hope we win so we don't need to speak too much about it in the future. It’s like a weird thing last year in Brentford where we couldn't win away for the first six or seven months, more than half the season.

"Then suddenly we were the best away team for the nine games in a row after. So with these stats, it’s up to us to be extremely focused, aware of the gameplan, show a fantastic mentality and do what we can to win."

He added: "Put it this way, I’ve mentioned it to the players. I actually said that you guys (the media) will most likely ask me so please make sure we win!"

One player who is back in training but not available yet for the game at Elland Road is deadline day loan signing Randal Kolo Muani and Frank explained the Frenchman's troublesome recent injury.

"It’s just a dead leg that was bleeding too much. Very simple. That’s sorted. Now we need to get him up to pace. No muscle, nothing, just a contact. Unfortunately. Then bleeding," he explained.

With both the PSG man out and Dominic Solanke requiring a minor procedure on his ankle, Richarlison has been left to battle away up top on his own with only 20-year-old Mathys Tel as a potential replacement. With the Brazilian's injury history, Frank was asked whether he's had to risk the striker more than he would have liked.

"No. I would say the medical and performance department have done a top job in terms of building him. I think it's quite remarkable that he's fit with his history," he said. "I think we took some good decisions. For example the first friendly we played, he was just too short so he didn't play the 45 minutes.

"There's been training sessions where we've probably [thought], 'hmm, not today'. We came back from the last international break, didn't start him. So there's been bits of those. Right now we haven't been forced into games where we had to play him if that makes sense. He's built an extra layer which I think is good."

So has all the game time meant that Frank has had to accept that Richarlison might run and press slightly less in order to counter the number of minutes he's racking up?

"Oof, that's difficult for me. That's a default in me, I get so annoyed if they're not running. They need to do something unbelievable, remarkable if they're allowed not to run. So the short answer is no!" he said.

"So far I've been happy with his attitude and his work-rate and also quite a bit of his performances, but there's still things that could be improved of course."

Richarlison's team-mate Rodrigo Bentancur committed his future to Spurs this week with a new long-term contract and Frank admitted he played his role in the club's work to ensure the Uruguayan did not run down the final seven months of his contract.

"Of course we tried to convince him in terms of what the future is here. The perspective for the team and the perspective for him, how I saw him and what kind of role I would like him to play," said the Dane.

"Of course he’s a very important player who can be part of moving the team forward and I think his qualities will be able to shine here. We're at the start of the journey and the future looks bright and exciting. One thing I’m sure of is there will be lots of ups and downs but I think he’ll be very good for that."

Bentancur was one of the senior figures to miss out on being named in Frank's five-strong leadership group at Tottenham which was announced on Friday. Despite being set to miss most, if not all, of the season following an ACL injury, James Maddison has been named in the group alongside captain Cristian Romero, Ben Davies, Guglielmo Vicario and Micky van de Ven, and Frank explained why.

"He is a very positive person and lively is not the word, but he's an extrovert," said the Spurs head coach. "He's positive, smiling, interacting with everyone and that is a big plus, and he also gets around to everyone and is interested in leadership so it was quite natural."