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Tottenham Hotspur: Dean Jones claims Djed Spence alternative will be targeted this winter

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Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur will try and sign an alternative option at wing-back for Djed Spence this winter.

Over the summer, Spurs signed the defender from Middlesbrough on a five-year contract in a deal reportedly worth up to £20m. Despite that big investment in the 22-year-old as a player for the present and future, it’s not clear if Antonio Conte particularly rates the player.

In fact, after his move, the Italian made it evident that Spence wasn’t a signing that he had requested and seemed to distance himself from the deal.

He told the press: “Spence is an investment of the club. The club wanted to do it. I said, ‘OK, this player is young but he showed he can become a good, important player for us’. The club decided to buy him.”

Taking everything into account, Jones has now predicted that Conte will want Tottenham to go out and sign an alternative option at wing-back when the January transfer market opens.

Speaking on the Chasing Green Arrows podcast, he explained: “It’s very reasonable to expect that Tottenham will sign another player that is capable of playing right wing-back, I really do.

“I think that Spence just isn’t what Conte wants right here and now for that role, and that’s all he cares about. Conte doesn’t care about preparing Djed Spence to be a great player in a year or two.

“He wants Djed Spence to be unstoppable this weekend against Bournemouth, and he’s not. So it’s game by game and I’m afraid he’s just not going to work for him.”

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Spence is yet to start a competitive game for Spurs since his move and has been limited to just a few one-minute cameos off the bench in the Premier League so far.

With that in mind, it’s not hard to come to the conclusion that Conte doesn’t rate the English defender at this moment in time.

Emerson Royal has mostly been trusted to play this season as the first-choice right wing-back, while Matt Doherty has also had his chances, but Jones clearly believes Spurs will want better players for the position.

Seeing as Spence is already no more than third-choice, it would really be bad news if a new man was to come in over the winter, as it would effectively put an end to his hopes of making any sort of impact at his new club in his debut season – and perhaps in the long run.

Does Djed Spence deserve a run in the team for Spurs?

Yes

Yes

No

No

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