Archie Gray has responded after one of Daniel Farke’s signings bid farewell to Leeds United with a post on Instagram on Tuesday, only a couple of days after the play-off final.
Defeat to Southampton at Wembley on Sunday saw Leeds denied the chance to return to the Premier League at the first attempt. Adam Armstrong scoring the only goal of the game, enough to beat Leeds.
Leeds had glimpses, especially in the first 15 minutes but could not take advantage. The Whites lacked any real threat until Dan James was introduced, the Welshman slamming an effort against the crossbar.
He had another shot from 20 yards palmed away by the impressive Alex McCarthy, who was once on loan at Leeds under Simon Grayson. It was despair for Leeds at full-time, and the opposite for Southampton.
Connor Roberts was introduced by Daniel Farke in the last 20 minutes, clocking up his 15th appearance for Leeds since swapping Burnley for Elland Road on the final day of the January transfer window.
Leeds talent Gray responds as Connor Roberts returns to Burnley
It was confirmed before the play-off final that Leeds would not be signing the Wales star on a permanent basis, and he’d be returning to Turf Moor where he returns to a Burnley side who have been relegated.
Roberts then took to Instagram this week, underlining what a delight it had been to play for Leeds and recognised the quality of the Yorkshire club’s support during his short time under manager Farke.
It prompted a reply from Gray on his Instagram post who had clearly taken a shine to Roberts, a player renowned for his off-pitch humour, but his on-pitch aggression. Gray commented: “What a guy”.
Could Leeds consider a permanent Roberts signing?
The chances of Burnley selling Wales ace Roberts to Leeds on a permanent basis, with Burnley expected to rival Leeds for automatic promotion from the Championship next season, does seem incredibly slim.
But Roberts made it clear that soon after his arrival at Elland Road, he would be open to a permanent deal. Daniel Farke hinted at similar and Roberts is about to enter the last 12 months of his Burnley deal.
So, while Burnley may not want to do business with Leeds, if Roberts pushed for a permanent move if the interest from Leeds was there then it would be a deal that could be done in the coming months.