Djed Spence, according to Neil Warnock, has the capacity to be Premier League or non-League. But by way of another stint in the Championship, the full-back is on the road to Italy. As one door closes another one opens, though Spence could hardly claim that a loan to Genoa is part of any preconceived masterplan.
His transfer to Serie A was put in place on Thursday, less than a week after a previous loan at Leeds United came to an abrupt end on Leeds’ say-so. Spence is a makeweight in Tottenham Hotspur’s signing of centre-back Radu Dragusin, the 23-year-old sent out to Genoa for the rest of the season as Dragusin came the other way for a fee in excess of £25million ($32m). Spence’s contract at Spurs runs to 2027 but he has never been further from the picture there. As part of the transaction with Genoa, Spurs are covering his entire wage. A permanent €10m option has also been negotiated.
And while Serie A — a competition which will pit Spence against some of Europe’s elite — is nothing like non-League, Warnock’s general point stands. In Spence, there is a right-back with clear and obvious ability, a style made for modern wing-back play and a history which, at a certain point in time, showed him to be better in his position than any other player in the Championship. But appreciating his potential and properly harnessing it are two different things, and he heads to Italy with the reputation of a rebel without a cause.
Well done Djed , I did say you were premier league or non league, glad you listened and took my advice on board now go and enjoy your success
Those cigars won’t do you any good though son 😉 https://t.co/EANP8g4ri9
— Neil Warnock (@warnockofficial) May 30, 2022
Warnock was manager of Middlesbrough while Spence was cutting his teeth as a first-team player there having moved to Teeside from Fulham’s academy in 2018. Warnock found him so aloof and challenging to manage that in 2021 he sanctioned a loan to Nottingham Forest, a Championship rival, who won promotion via the play-offs with Spence in their line-up.
Despite his impact at the City Ground, Boro did not regret Warnock’s decision to move him on. And when Tottenham came in with an eight-figure offer for him the following summer, they were only too happy to sell. Warnock could see Spence’s talent; he was just not sure if the defender would succeed in maximising it properly.
In contrast to Middlesbrough and Leeds, something about Steve Cooper worked for Spence at Forest. Cooper, according to those who watched him work with Spence, had a knack of putting an arm around him at the right moments and keeping him on the straight and narrow. Forest’s back five, a different system to the four-man defence used by Leeds this season, worked for Spence too. But it is also true that Forest are the only one of the five clubs he has appeared for at senior level who retain fond memories of him. For Leeds, his most recent opportunity, he goes down as a hugely disappointing loan, one they hoped would deliver big things but felt compelled to cut short unceremoniously last Thursday.
That decision had several strands to it but part of the problem for Spence at Elland Road was that he had no opportunity to hit the ground running. Ange Postecoglou, who Spurs appointed as head coach in June, did not waste time in ruling Spence surplus to immediate requirements and barely used him in pre-season. Spence had returned from a previous loan at Rennes in France’s Ligue 1 with a minor knee injury and had long periods away from Postecoglou’s main training group. Leeds, who had come very close to landing Max Aarons from Norwich City before losing out to Bournemouth, struck a deal for a season-long loan with Tottenham at the very end of August, a day before the transfer window closed. Spence was fit but, having played very little over the summer, not especially match fit.
Spence celebrates play-off success with Forest in 2022 (Getty Images)
Leeds had first-hand knowledge of him, or very good knowledge of him, as a footballer and a character. Gretar Steinsson, United’s technical director, had been at Spurs before taking up his role at Elland Road and he and Spence lived very close to each other in London. After his transfer to Leeds, Spence made one nine-minute outing the following weekend before injuring knee ligaments in training. Having planned to blood him from September onwards, Daniel Farke was unable to call on him again until the second week of December.
His return to the fold away at Blackburn Rovers on December 9, though, was instructive about what would happen next. Spence completed the last 20 minutes at left-back, replacing an injured Sam Byram. Over the course of his seven appearances, he would play as often on the left side of defence as his preferred position on the right.
Despite Leeds closing out a 2-0 win at Ewood Park, Farke made a beeline for Spence at full time, talking to him intensely on the pitch about his contribution and, specifically, his failure to track back in certain moments. The conversation went on for well over a minute. “There were one or two situations where I feel he could have invested a bit more,” Farke said afterwards, “but this is quite normal as it was his first game in months.”
Last week, after Leeds caused surprise by announcing that Spence would be returning to Spurs at their instigation, Farke was similarly careful to avoid throwing Spence under the bus, while allowing everyone listening to read between the lines. “Obviously, it’s important — the potential and the quality of the player,” Farke said, “but also it’s professionalism, it’s discipline, it’s workload on and off the pitch and also the soft skills, also if he’s positive and committed, good for the group and engaged with these topics. Our demands are very, very high and we don’t differ between loan players or permanent players. We are pretty picky on this topic.”
Sources with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, said Farke’s prime concern with Spence had been his in-game performance levels. But there were other issues too: late arrivals for certain training sessions and team meetings, the failure to appear for an off-field event, raising red flags despite the fact that, day to day, Spence was polite and friendly around the training ground.
Spence playing for Leeds at Preston on Boxing Day (Getty Images)
Leeds had no replacement lined up for Spence when they decided last week, ahead of their FA Cup tie at Peterborough United, that Spence would return to London. Tottenham had not expected him back and the development took them by surprise, though Leeds explained their reasons for activating the loan’s break clause in advance, preparing Spurs for Farke’s comments about Spence at his next press conference.
Spurs quickly ruled that Spence would be made available for another move in this window and, in the meantime, train with their under-21s. There was no suggestion of Postecoglou taking another look at him, partly because any appearance for Tottenham would have ruled out the option of another loan this month owing to rules preventing players from playing for three clubs in one campaign — and it is increasingly hard to see circumstances in which Spurs find a way to make his £12.5million transfer from Middlesbrough work.
Spence has played six times for them and never started a competitive fixture. It suited Tottenham to use him in the deal for Dragusin, with Bayern Munich pressing for an agreement with Genoa themselves. Dragusin, a 21-year-old centre-back, has signed on a six-and-a-half-year deal, running to 2030.
How well this loan works for Spence remains to be seen. Genoa tend to play three at the back, creating scope for Spence to operate as a full-blown wing-back, perhaps the role that suits him best. They have been steady in Serie A having won promotion last season, and Spence, if he finds form, could add a dash of panache to their displays. But it is 18 months now since he was named in the Championship’s team of the year, and 18 months since he was on a roll.
Warnock’s comment about Premier League or non-league continues to resonate, and the wait goes on to discover where Spence finally settles on that spectrum.
(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
