Ange Postecoglou made it clear during pre-season that there was a place for Djed Spence in his squad if the Tottenham man continued to "take control of his own direction". It was exactly what some Spurs supporters wanted to hear despite the right-back only managing to make six senior appearances for the club in his first two years in north London.
Many believed that Spence had not been given a fair chance during Antonio Conte's reign, with the 24-year-old not in Postecoglou's thinking either last season and subsequently spending time on loan with both Leeds United and Genoa. Going on those two loan spells away and because he was not previously in Postecoglou's plans, the writing appeared to be on the wall for the ex-Nottingham Forest loanee in regards to his Tottenham career.
The fact that Spence penned a new contract at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday afternoon is testament to the hard work he has put in behind the scenes in recent months to get his Spurs career finally up and running. Showing just what he can do in an impressive second-half cameo appearance in the pre-season win away at Hearts, the defender continued to take his chance in the team's summer friendlies and also training to really make a mark on Postecoglou and his coaching team.
"I think with Djed, for me we got him back into pre-season and we’re judging him on his merits," Postecoglou told football.london during the club's pre-season tour of South Korea and Japan. "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. But a lot of these things are in the players' hands themselves. They kind of decide their own future in many respects and I think Djed is in that boat.
"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."
He added: "Djed’s here. He is a Spurs player. He's a very good player who fits into our football and so it's as much about him as it is about me making a decision.
"As you see right now, he's been very good pre-season, he's been very good on the tour. He's impressed all the coaches, not just myself. For some of them it’s the first time they've worked with him and they've all been really impressed with him.
"Maybe he's learned a couple of things over the last couple of years about himself and hopefully we can sort of bear the fruit of that."
Tottenham are benefitting from the decision to keep Spence at the club this summer even if his minutes in the first-team have been rather limited. Spurs possibly wouldn't have a Carabao Cup round four game against Manchester City on the calendar had the defender not produced his heroics at Coventry City.
A rare positive on a poor night for the club, Spence got the crucial equaliser in the closing minutes before Brennan Johnson won it for the Lilywhites in stoppage time. He then followed that showing up with a really good performance in the 3-0 win at Manchester United after replacing Destiny Udogie at left-back for the second half of the contest.
A right-back by trade but someone who is more than capable of playing on the opposite flank, Spence has an extremely tough job on his hands in his quest to become a Spurs regular with Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie ahead of him in the pecking order in both positions. His omission for the 25-man Europa League squad has not helped his cause and limited his opportunities even further, with Spence the unlucky player to miss out due to Tottenham's struggles when it comes to those non-homegrown and homegrown numbers.
Providing that they do indeed advance to the knockout round of UEFA's second club competition, Postecoglou and Spurs can make changes to their playing squad and many will be hoping that Spence is given a recall as the club look to win the trophy in Bilbao come May. One thing for sure is that the full-back's Spurs career is now back on track after two previous forgettable years in N17.
It may only be an extra year on top of his previous deal but it is a huge sign that he is in the club's long-term vision. Spence very much took control of his own direction and now he is here to stay at Postecoglou's Tottenham.
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