'Special One' Archie Gray stuns Tottenham fans by starring in his new position in pre-season win over Hearts

Archie Gray quickly made a strong impression on Tottenham fans as he starred in their 5-1 pre-season win over Hearts.

Spurs welcomed the 18-year-old from Leeds earlier this month, triggering his £40m release clause.

Gray has signed a contract until 2030 with the North London Outfit and arrives as one of the most promising young talents in English football.

He made his first appearance in a 7-2 friendly win over Cambridge United behind closed doors.

But fans have been able to see it for the first time in Spurs colours on the cameras as they took on Hearts in their final pre-season test.

Gray, a natural central midfielder who often played at right back last season, was used as a centre-back on the club's trip to Scotland but still stole the show in the first period.

He completed 50 of his 52 passes during his first-half performance, five of them in the final third, and also won all three of his aerial duels.

Fans loved what they saw from the youngster and many predicted a bright future for him in the English capital.

As for X, one said: “Archie Gray is playing out of his position as a centre-back and he behaves like a veteran. He has incredible quality, he's going to be an incredible player. 18 years old, unbelievable!”

“Archie Gray is special,” a second simply said.

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A third added: “Archie Gray plays like a very experienced player, very composed on the ball, even as a centre-back. I'm looking forward to seeing him play this season.”

This fan commented: “Archie Gray looks very classy. He holds his head high, makes good tackles, always feels like he has that extra moment on the ball, a good cross-field pass.

“He's not a very experienced centre-back, of course, but there are plenty of hopeful signs. He'll play a lot this season.”

Meanwhile one simply stated: “Archie Gray… future Spurs legend.”

Gray was substituted at half-time and Ange Postecoglou will be looking to use as many of his squad as possible ahead of the new season.

And in the first minute of the second half, Hearts equalised through Lawrence Shankland with Gray's replacement, Emerson Royal, committing the foul.

This led one Spurs fan to joke: “Archie Gray was substituted and we conceded the goal straight away.”

Wales international Brennan Johnson opened the scoring for Spurs in the 39th minute, finishing off a clever move that also involved Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison.

Just nine minutes after Hearts' equaliser, academy star William Lankshear restored Spurs' lead with a smart finish after collecting a pass from Djed Spence.

It was soon 3-1, with 16-year-old Mikey Moore firing into the bottom left corner before Spence headed home from close range after receiving a Timo Werner cross.

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And Lewis Neilson's own goal put Tottenham 5-1 up in a performance that will delight manager Postecoglou.

Spurs face QPR away from home on Saturday before travelling to Asia for friendlies against Vissel Kobe, Team K League and Bayern Munich.

They will then return to their home stadium to play Bayern again before kicking off their new Premier League campaign away to Leicester.