Leeds make approach to sign Djed Spence on season-long loan from Tottenham – report
Leeds have made an approach to sign Tottenham right-back Djed Spence on a season-long loan, according to The Athletic.
The news outlet reported on Tuesday morning (29 August, 08:29am) that Spence, 23, could make the move to Elland Road before the transfer deadline passes at 11pm on 1 September.
The former Middlesbrough right-back hasn’t made any of Ange Postecoglou’s matchday squads in the Premier League this season.
Much-needed game time
Spence’s career has almost come to a complete halt since he swapped the North-East for North London last year.
Spurs paid £20million [Guardian] to sign the England Under-21 international from Middlesbrough last July but he’s since played just six times in all competitions for the Premier League club and in January, he was sent out on loan to Rennes.
However, while in France, Spence’s game time didn’t really improve as he played just 10 times in total for the Ligue 1 club thanks to a knee injury.
Spence was brilliant in the Championship for Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest, who he won promotion with in 2021/22, and there’s a good chance that he’ll be able to impress for Leeds if they can sign him.
The 23-year-old cannot be starved of first-team minutes much longer so if he stays fit, stays in Daniel Farke’s starting line-up, impresses and maybe wins another promotion, he’ll be better placed to get into the Tottenham first team next season.
Spence did well in the few games he had at Rennes last term.
According to WhoScored, the right-back completed 88.8 per cent of passes, averaging 1.8 tackles, 1.4 clearances and 0.5 interceptions per Ligue 1 game and 1.9 dribbles.
He was impressive both on and off the ball and was vital in securing a 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain on 19 March.
GetFrenchFootballNews described the Tottenham player’s performance as “unstoppable” and “technically proficient”. Foot Mercato said that his performance was “special”.
If he can repeat his performance against PSG when playing against teams in the Championship for Leeds, there’s no doubt that he’ll be in the running to get into the Championship team of the season again.
It’s a mutually beneficial move for Spurs, Leeds and Spence so it’s hard to see how this one doesn’t go through at this stage unless the right-back believes he’s better off playing for Tottenham’s Under-21s or being on the bench at a Premier League club.
In other Tottenham news, Spurs shouldn’t be wasting the Harry Kane cash on signing Brennan Johnson.