Journalist Alasdair Gold recently claimed on his YouTube channel that he backs Tottenham Hotspur signing, Djed Spence, to break into the first team before the World Cup after his slow start.
Despite having the likes of Spence, Emerson Royal, and Matt Doherty in the squad, the right wing-back spot is one of the weaker areas for Spurs, to the point where they recently shifted Ivan Perisic over to the position instead of starting any of the aforementioned three.
While Royal has taken the bolster of the minutes so far this season while Doherty is still getting back to full sharpness after his knee injury last season, Spence has barely featured since his £20m move from Middlesbrough.
However, things could change for the 22-year-old as Gold recently claimed he sees Spence getting a start for the club very soon as they have a large number of games in a short period before the World Cup starts.
Gold said: “Just the case that he is at the moment third in line for the right wing-back slot. That’s all it is really he’s a young player, Conte wants him to I guess understand everything he’s asking of him.
“Wants him to be fitness-wise, right up there because of the wing-back role. He’ll get his chances, he will. Whether it is just to begin with, in the Carabao Cup against Forest or there will be, 13 matches after this international break between October 1 and the day they head off to kind of start preparing for the World Cup and the season comes to a rubbish pause.
“And in that time, we’ve got a game every three to four days there will be injuries, I think Djed Spence will probably end up playing one of those Premier League games as well.”
TIF Thoughts on Spence…
Life in north London has been tough for the player who was labelled as ‘unbelievable’ by Premier League legend Ian Wright, but luckily he has time on his side at just 22 years old.
But Conte has been very open in his thoughts on Spence with the Italian clearly not convinced he is ready to play Premier League football:
“The difference is clear. To play in the Championship with Nottingham Forest and then with Tottenham, he needs time to adapt himself in many aspects, in the physical aspect and the tactical aspect because now he is working with another coach,” he said.
So far this season Spence has only played one minute of first-team football for the Lilywhites during their 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest and has failed to even feature in the matchday squad for their last two games.
To spend around £20m on a top prospect and have him play just one minute through their first seven games is ridiculous, but it is even more egregious when you look at who is starting ahead of him in Royal.
It is only right that Conte gives Spence a chance in the top flight sooner rather than later. If they had an elite-level wing-back at the position it’s more understandable why he hasn’t played, but I fail to see how Spence can be any worse than Emerson Royal.
Should Conte start Spence soon?Yes
No
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