Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence has been linked with a move away from the club this summer.
The 24-year-old was on loan at Getafe last term and he impressed at the Italian club. The defender is back at his parent club now and he has put in impressive performances during pre-season.
Manager Ange Postecoglou has now revealed to Football London that the right-back has been quite impressive in the pre-season games and it will be interesting to see if they are willing to offer him first-team opportunities this season.
Tottenham have sanctioned the departure of Emerson Royal earlier this summer. The Brazilian joined AC Milan and Spurs will need to find alternatives.
They have Pedro Porro as the first-choice right-back at the club and Spence is expected to compete with him for the starting spot.
Postecoglou has now revealed that Spence has impressed with his performances in pre-season and it remains to be seen whether the 24-year-old can hold down starting spot at Spurs this season.
“I think with Djed, for me we got him back into pre-season and we’re judging him on his merits. He’s a Tottenham player. To be fair to him, I think he’s been very, very good for us this pre-season, in terms of the way he’s trained and his general attitude.
“I think there’s an opportunity for him here, for sure. Thinking about building a squad, he would be definitely somebody who could [contribute] with the attributes he has. I thought last year there was a chance but it didn’t quite work out. For those kind of things, I think sometimes players really wait for direction when they can really take control of their own direction.”
He added: “Djed’s here. He is a Spurs player. He’s a very good player who fits into our football and so it’s as much about him as it is about me making a decision.”
The comments from the Tottenham manager will certainly be encouraging for the defender. He has proven his quality in the Italian league and in the Championship before his move to Tottenham.
Tottenham will be competing in the Premier League and in the UEFA Europa League this season. They will need a deeper squad in order to do across multiple competitions and keeping Spence at the club could prove to be a wise decision. It will be interesting to see if the 24-year-old can force his way into the starting lineup this season.
