Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has heaped praise on Djed Spence for his performances during the pre-season.
The 23-year-old defender was on loan at Leeds United and Genoa last season and he has returned to his parent club now. The defender has been very impressive for Spurs in the pre-season and Postecoglou has hinted that he might get handed a lifeline at the club.
It will be interesting to see if Spurs are prepared to keep him at the club beyond this summer.
“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,” said the Spurs boss to Football London.
“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.”
Spence will want to play regularly at this stage of his career and it will be interesting to see if Tottenham are prepared to provide him with that opportunity. They will need to provide him with gametime assurance in order to keep him at the club.
Tottenham will be competing in the UEFA Europa League next season and they need a deeper squad to do well across multiple competitions. Keeping the 23-year-old at the club could prove to be a wise decision. There is no doubt that he is a quality player with a bright future. He has the potential to improve further. Throwing him a lifeline could prove to be a masterstroke in the long-term.