Truth revealed about Djed Spence bad attitude claims at Tottenham
The Athletic’s Jay Harris has revealed how Djed Spence has been able to completely turn around his Tottenham career and people’s perception of him, explaining that the defender’s experiences last year led to his transformed mindset.
Not too many Spurs fans would have batted an eyelid if Spence had been the first player sold by Tottenham during last summer’s transfer window.
The full-back had been overlooked by successive Spurs managers and had failed to set the world alight during his loan spells at Leeds and Genoa, with the latter even opting against taking the £8.5m option to buy Spence last summer.
Djed Spence was even accused of having a bad attitude before be broke into the Spurs XI.
Tottenham’s injury crisis over recent months presented opportunities for the 24-year-old to play, and he has not looked back, arguably emerging as the club’s most consistent performer.
Djed Spence’s bad attitude may have been misunderstood at Tottenham
Jay Harris has now claimed that suggestions of the defender having an attitude problem are wide off the mark, explaining that his introverted personality is sometimes misconstrued.
The journalist claimed that it was during the full-back’s experience in Italy last season when he came of age and realised the importance of getting his head down and focussing on his performances.
Harris said on The View From The Lane podcast: “I’ve spoken to people who know him quite well, and they’ve said that Spence is a bit introverted, and he can be quite aloof. And so there are times when people probably have misinterpreted that as him not caring or him having a bad attitude.
“But I think what we’re seeing before us now is a 24-year-old who was a young boy. He’s a young man now. Apparently, during his time in Italy with Genoa, that was quite a powerful experience for him because Leeds didn’t work out for a number of different issues, but mainly because he had quite a bad knee injury, which ruled him out, I think, for two and a half months, three months in total.
“So he’s gone from barely getting a game in the championship to playing at the San Siro twice with Genoa. And so he’s returning to Spurs, and he’s thinking, wow, if I want to kick on with my career at the highest level, I seriously need to knuckle down. He did that.”
Destiny Udogie is no longer a guaranteed starter
Spence has made himself undroppable with his recent performances, and the former Middlesbrough man appears to be getting better and better in the inverted left-back role.
Udogie, who was seen as the best young left-back in the league by many not too long ago, no longer walks back into the side, with the Italian now knowing that he has to really step up his game to play ahead of Spence.
| Djed Spence’s Tottenham Stats (2024/25 Premier League) | |
| Games | 12 |
| Goals | 0 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Goal-creating actions | 3 |
| Minutes played | 770 |
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