Spurs Women announce Drew Spence as first summer signing

As few as a few days ago, we were wondering how Tottenham Hotspur Women manager Rehanne Skinner was going to address what was looking like a distressingly thin central midfield area ahead of next season. We just got a partial answer to that. This morning Spurs announced the signing of 29-year old Chelsea central midfielder Drew Spence. She joins Tottenham on a free transfer after her Chelsea contract expired at the end of May.

We had heard rumors of this particular signing for a while, but more in kind of hushed terms and not anything solid enough to write about. Spence, a Jamaica international, comes to Tottenham as a hugely experienced player with 12 years at Chelsea, making her at the time the longest tenured Chelsea player at the club. Spence instantly upgrades Skinner’s midfield options, which was left thin after the departures of Josie Green and Maeva Clemaron earlier in the summer. Spence saw her playing time diminish at Chelsea this season, which makes it probably a good decision for her to move.

Spence is a strong player, and while she’ll likely be utilized in the center of the pitch in a deeper midfield role, she has positional flexibility — she was even used as a late forward substitute in several games at Chelsea last season. She’s a plus passer with an impressive range, which should greatly benefit Tottenham’s attacking options (whoever they are) next season, and she’s extremely good in the air. She also brings a wealth of experience to Spurs. This is a good signing.

It doesn’t sound as though Skinner and Spurs were anticipating losing Clemaron this summer, so I have a suspicion we could see another central midfield option come in before the start of the season, as well as a forward or two. But this is a good start to the summer. Drew should be a major piece of Tottenham’s puzzle going into next season, and I’m excited.

Welcome to Tottenham, Drew Spence!