Leeds United hit the jackpot during the recent summer transfer window with a huge sale of one of their academy success stories in Archie Gray.
The teenage talent, who emerged as a first-team option for Daniel Farke in the 2023/24 campaign, earned himself a move to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs reportedly paid a fee of between £30m and £40m for the Whites academy graduate, who only had one season of senior football under his belt.
The West Yorkshire outfit have not always been able to get the best value for their young prospects, however, as they sold Lewis Cook for what now seems like a cut-price fee.
How much Leeds sold Lewis Cook for
Like Gray, the Englishman came up through the youth ranks at Elland Road before making his senior breakthrough at Championship level as a central midfielder.
Cook emerged as a regular option in the team during the 2014/15 season, with 37 second tier appearances under his belt that term, and played for England at U18 level.
The midfield star then featured in 43 of the club's 46 Championship games in the following campaign, contributing with one goal and two assists, before earning himself a move away from Yorkshire.
Premier League side Bournemouth snapped the central midfielder up for a reported fee of £6m, as manager Garry Monk – who had only arrived that summer – sold him ahead of the 2016/17 season.
In the subsequent years, Cook's value has shot up from £6m and he is now valued at more than Farke's current box-to-box midfielder Ilia Gruev.
Lewis Cook's current market value
At the time of writing (06/09/24), FootballTransfers places the Bournemouth star's Expected Transfer Value (xTV) at a whopping €14.9m (£12.6m).
That is more than double the initial £6m the Whites raked in from the Cherries for his services back in 2016, and is more than Gruev's current xTV of €6.9m (£5.8m).
Leeds messed up by selling Cook, who has racked up 222 appearances for the top-flight side in all competitions, before he could realise his potential, and ended up missing out on a player who is good enough to compete in the Premier League.
Appearances
33
29
Assists
3
1
Key passes per game
1.4
0.5
Tackles + interceptions per game
3.8
2.5
Duel success rate
52%
56%
As you can see in the table above, the 27-year-old battler outperformed Gruev, whilst playing in a higher division, with his contributions in and out of possession.
Cook, who was once dubbed "impressive" by Eddie Howe, created more chances, assisted more goals, and made 1.3 more tackles and interceptions combined per match in comparison to the Bulgaria international in the 2023/24 campaign.
This suggests that the English gem would be a starting option for Farke in his current team, and his performances last term show that he has the ability to play week-in-week-out in a side that avoided relegation from the Premier League.
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The Whites even tried to re-sign the exciting attacker this summer.
1 ByDan Emery
Overall, Leeds messed up as they cashed in on a player who has since developed into an impressive top-flight performer and is more valuable than their current midfielder.
