Tottenham Reportedly to Renew Interest in Leicester's Demarai Gray

Leicester City winger Demarai Gray is reportedly once again a transfer target for Tottenham Hotspur, with manager Mauricio Pochettino renewing an interest that began last summer, per Peter O'Rourke for ESPN FC.

The 21-year-old is "expected to consider his future," reported O'Rourke, which has put Spurs back on alert following their failed attempt to bring him to London in 2017. Last July Gray was reportedly promised more playing time at Leicester to fend off Pochettino, per Ed Malyon for The Independent, but this has not come to fruition. Gray has started just 14 league matches this season, making another 16 appearances from the bench.

As captain of England's under-21s, Gray may have expected a senior call-up from Gareth Southgate, who has recently blooded Lewis Cook, Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke. But his inability to break into the Foxes first team has seemingly held him back.

Alik Keplicz/Associated Press

"It's just my consistency," Gray said when asked in March why he thinks he wasn't selected for the senior England squad, per Tim Nash for the Express. "You need to be trusted. I'm working hard at my club and working hard when I come here [U21 duty]."

But it is not merely opportunity that has perhaps held back Gray's progress. Gray started the first four matches following Claude Puel's appointment as Leicester manager in October, but after failing to impress he once again fell down the pecking order. 

However, Pochettino's interest in his development suggests Gray has the ability to go to the top. At the end of August 2017 Spurs reportedly tabled a "hefty straight cash bid" for the winger, per James Nursey for the Mirror, which was knocked back by Leicester, who presumably expected Gray to start more games than he has over the course of 2017-18.

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

Spurs signed a similar type of player in Lucas Moura during the January window, while the club are reportedly still interested Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha and are readying a £50 million bid, per Gary Jacob for The Times. A move to Tottenham, then, might not be ideal given that game time is already a concern for Gray.

For now, Gray will be focused solely on helping his side finish as high up the table as possible. Leicester are eighth in the Premier League, nine points shy of Burnley with five matches to go. Getting game time, and seizing the opportunities offered, is all Gray can afford to think about until interest from elsewhere becomes concrete.

"Me personally, [the target is] just to play as much football as I can and try and finish the season strong," he said in the build-up to Thursday's home match against Southampton, per Rob Tanner for the Leicester Mercury. "From a team perspective, we've just got to try and get points in every single game now. The last five or six games of the season are always vital, so we've just to finish the season positively."