Report: Djed Spence to be loaned out for second half of season

Tottenham Hotspur have a surplus of right backs at the moment, and they’re looking to bring in another one. But before they can do that at least one has to head out the door, at least on a temporary basis. It’s starting to look like Djed Spence will be among them.

ESPN’s James Olley is reporting that the club is looking at sending Spence out on loan for the second half of the season. This is also amidst a swirl of rumors in the Italian media that the club is in active negotiations for the transfer of Sporting’s Pedro Porro.

We all know Spence’s story — his transfer from Middlesbrough this past summer was protracted and mostly spearheaded by Daniel Levy, and once he arrived Antonio Conte called him a “club signing” and has barely used him outside of spot minutes here and there. These rumors do make it seem as though the club may have tried to find him a loan destination this summer just after signing him and was not able to do so... or perhaps Conte thought Spence could benefit from a half season in Spurs’ reserves to get familiar with Premier League football and his tactics.

But this makes sense. Spence is a young player who is not going to improve without regular playing time, and he looks unlikely to get it at Tottenham this season. The article doesn’t mention where Spence might go — a return to the Championship would be disappointing, especially if the goal is to get him Premier League ready. Olley’s report says that there’s interest from “four Premier League clubs” and also Bayer Leverkusen — and that sounds pretty good to me. I think I’d prefer Spence going to lower-level Premier League club that needs someone to help keep them up.

Like, y’know, Everton?

We’ll keep monitoring that, but the way loans go it might be a while before we get anything definitive.