Former Tottenham player Alan Hutton has opined on the future of right-back Djed Spence at the club.
The 22-year-old joined Spurs in a deal worth around £20 million during the summer transfer window from Middlesbrough but he has not had ample opportunities to prove himself at the Premier League club.
Spence was quite impressive for Nottingham Forest during his loan spell at the club last season and he helped them secure promotion to the Premier League. He was expected to come in and solve Tottenham’s right-back problems.
Instead, the player has struggled to convince Antonio Conte of his quality and he is yet to start a league game for the London club.
Spurs have used Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty as their right-backs despite the fact that the two players have been largely underwhelming.
Spence is clearly not a preferred option for Conte and he has been linked with a loan move away from the club in January.
The 22-year-old needs to play regularly at this stage of his career and a loan move would be ideal for him.
Hutton said to Football Insider that the fact that Conte mentioned Spence is a club signing and not his choice is a red flag for the player.
“I watched him quite a bit last season and I’ve really liked what I’ve seen. He fits into that Antonio Conte way of playing.
“Obviously, he sees him day in, day out. Is there something he’s not happy with?
“He came on in the Forest game and he looked lively. He was running forward and trying to make things happen.
“If you’re not getting game time at that age, you have to go out and look to play football. The biggest thing about the whole situation is when he did first come into the club, Antonio Conte said something like he wasn’t his signing. He was a club signing.
“That, right there for me, is a red flag instantly. I do feel for him, I think he’s got a lot of ability. I believe he could push for that position there.“
It will be interesting to see if the player can go out on loan and impress during the second half of the season. He could force his way into Conte’s first-team plans next season on the back of an impressive loan spell.
