It’s time we talk about Djed Spence. The now 24 year old wingback is in the midst of a true breakout season at Spurs, showing that he is one of the squad’s most important players this year after starting the season with his place at the club uncertain. If you don’t recall, Spence has had a bit less direct of a journey to the Premier League than many of the highly touted wonderkids you see making debuts as a teenager.

After first joining the Fulham academy, Spence was playing for Fulham’s U18’s at 16 years old, before moving to Middlesbrough in January of 2020. After a solid couple of seasons with Middlesbrough, Spence was loaned to Nottingham Forest for the 21/22 season, having a very strong year, prompting his ~15 million euro move from Middlesbrough to Spurs at the end of his Forest loan. At the time, Antonio Conte was the Spurs manager, not a manager known for signing promising youngsters and developing them. Conte made Spence’s start to life at Spurs difficult by immediately labelling him a “club signing”, implying that it was Daniel Levy who wanted to sign Spence, and that Conte had nothing to do with the transfer. After being unable to get any significant playing time under Conte, Spence joined Stade Rennais on loan for the remainder of the 22/23 season.

Once the 23/24 season began, Djed Spence yet again could not find a place at Spurs, and was sent out on loan again, to Leeds this time. This was possibly his least effective loan yet, as Leeds manager Daniel Farke made claims that Spence’s attitude and character wasn’t up to standard, and that’s why Spence wasn’t playing. At this point, a lot of people started to write off Djed Spence. His loan to Leeds was cancelled in January, and he went out yet again, this time to Genoa in Serie A. Spence had a strong season with Genoa, who were interested in signing him permanently, a move Spurs were close to making last summer. Instead , Spence stayed at the club, and Ange Postecoglou gave him another chance to prove himself as a professional and as a player with a future at Spurs. Amidst an injury crisis, Spence was thrown into the deep end, going from fringe player to starter overnight, and make the most of this opportunity he did.

Early on in Spurs’ EFL Cup run, they looked likely to go out to Coventry City, trailing late in the game before Spence made a weaving run forward from LB, played a quick interchange with Dejan Kulusevski and scored to tie the game for Spurs, who would score again to win the game before fulltime. Spence would begin a regular run of starts towards the end of December, and since then has been arguably Spurs most consistent player (with Kulusevski showing signs of fatigue lately after being played in near every match this season).

Spence’s story is a lesson to both players and coaches. All young players will have a different path to reach their full potential. Some will have everything click at 18 or 19 years old, and some will take a little longer to reach their full potential. Djed Spence is a lesson to not write off a player just because he hasn’t become a Premier League superstar by age 20. From looking like a Spurs’ reject a year ago, to being one of their most important players now, Djed Spence has shown immense resilience and professionalism to work hard in training every day waiting for his chance. As Postecoglou confirmed, it was how Spence approached training on a daily basis while he was not playing regularly that earned him his chance.

Now he’s been unleashed, and isn’t a secret anymore. Tuchel should be seriously considering Spence for his next England team, what he can do from fullback is very unique amongst the England players. How many recent England teams have been cursed with a lack of directness, a lack of the final ball, all while holding relatively meaningless possession in their own half? What Djed Spence brings to a team in possession, is ball progression. Amongst fullbacks, Spence ranks in the 97th percentile for successful take-ons per game, often completing more dribbles in the match than Spurs’ wingers. When facing a compact block, the creativity and movement of Djed Spence can create significant space for England’s other playmakers and give defenders a tough decision to make when marking, and this is a skillset that I do not see other England FB options showing regularly.

Make sure to keep an eye on him, because Djed Spence is here, and he’s not going anywhere.

-LM