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View: Tottenham will have epitome of modern-day full-back if they sign Djed Spence
Tottenham Hotspur look set to win the very heated race to sign Middlesbrough full-back Djed Spence this summer and Antonio Conte will be buzzing.
The 21-year-old spent the entirety of the 2021-22 season on loan at Nottingham Forest from the Riverside and was a key player in helping them return to the Premier League via the playoffs for the first time in 23 years.
Football London report that Tottenham are the team leading the way in the current hunt to secure his signature although Forest would also be keen to keep him permanently after such a successful loan spell.
It’s not difficult to see why Conte is so keen on signing the Englishman either when you take a closer look at how he operates as a full-back and the ease he will have in transitioning to a wing-back.
Spence’s most recent goal came in Forest’s 3-1 home win against Queens Park Rangers but perhaps not in the circumstances you might expect.
The right-back found himself in the dead centre of the pitch, not natural ground for a wide player, but as he was under little pressure, he decided to have a crack and the result was emphatic to level the scores at 1-1.
One thing he does do very well, and often too, is bomb beyond the winger in front of him and cause real problems for the opposition defenders at every opportunity.
This is from the Reds’ 4-0 win against Reading and it was less than one minute into the game when Spence found himself hurtling down the flank and into a crossing opportunity.
He not only got himself there but then had the composure that many full-backs lack when attacking to actually find a pass to a teammate, Keinan Davis on this occasion, rather than leather the ball aimlessly into the mixer.
He was tormenting the Royals again in the second half, this time by running directly at the defender and then cutting inside onto his left foot.
Again, this isn’t entirely natural to him but he still shows the level-headedness to lay the ball off for Ryan Yates to blast home what was the third goal in a 4-0 win.
He really is the complete full-back and assuming Conte plays him as a wing-back, he should progress to the Premier League and be just as dangerous as he was in the Championship.
In other Tottenham news, it’s a battle between Spurs and West Ham for this teenage winger at Fulham.