Why the recruitment people are coming from far afield to watch Rotherham United

Once, the requests for passes were in single figures. These days, there are 30 or more.

There's a good reason for the influx of new faces at AESSEAL New York Stadium … Harry Gray.

Gray, of course, is the 17-year-old attacker on loan from top-flight Leeds United. A Miller now, a star in the future.

No-one is yet quite sure what his best position is. That's not a fault in the teenager's game, just an indication of the all-round talent he possesses.

“He plays as a ‘nine-and-a-half’, a 10, an 11, he’s a good footballer, isn’t he?” said Rotherham boss Matt Hamshaw. “We've tried to give him a bit of licence to go into pockets and get on the ball. When he gets in those pockets and he gets on the half-turn, it’s great.”

So, deep-lying striker, playmaker, threat out wide … take your pick.

The prospect has started every game since his switch from West to South Yorkshire and in recent matches has been given a roving role on the left wing with a brief to move more centrally as much as he can.

“He's learning the game,” Hamshaw said. “We're trying to get him to roll inside a lot more. He naturally rolls out into that spot out on the left. I think he's kind of got locked into that, and that's not what we're asking him to do.

“That's not him not listening to me, he just wants to try to get on the ball. I've seen him do it in under-21s football. He gets the ball, takes a half-turn and leaves two or three players.

“He's in big boys' football now, though. Being on the left and coming inside is helping him a little bit. We're simplifying it. At times, he's been through the middle with big centre-halves who just want to kick him.

“I think he's getting that space on switches and transitions, then he's rolling inside and you've got Duncan Watmore and Sam Nombe to play with him.

“Sometimes he's a little bit naive but, wow, what a good player he's going to be.”

Heading into Tuesday's home match with Mansfield Town, it’s nine starts in nine fixtures for the fledgling forward and, despite his tender age, only twice has he not still been on the pitch at the final whistle.

Gray finds himself at the sharp end of League One survival scrap – and that won't do him any harm as he gets to grips with the physical demands of senior football.

He has two goals to his name so far – scored in a 2-1 home win over Northampton Town and a 4-0 triumph at Exeter City – and feels at ease being a boy shouldering a man's responsibilities.

“I don’t really think about it,” he said. “I'm not afraid of the pressure that comes with it. I want to take it upon myself to get us out of the mess.

“Obviously, it’s not going our way at the minute, but I can only learn from it and take that into other games in my career.”

Hamshaw was privately speaking glowingly of the teenager's ability weeks before a loan deal until the end of the season was sealed in January. Rotherham, trying to find a way out of the relegation spots, were far from his only suitors.

“There were a few eyebrows raised when a 17-year-old prodigy came here,” the boss said. “Leeds fans think a lot of him and there’s a lot of media hype around him. He’s a big talent.

“Leeds have entrusted us with his development and the fact that he’s come in at this point speaks volumes about the kid. He could well have gone somewhere else, sat on the bench and not come on much.”

All those scouts aren't just from any old teams, by the way.

Virtually every Premier League club has someone at New York checking on the number 24 in red and white.

And the other week representatives of AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund were in the West Stand.