Forgotten Tottenham outcast has Championship loan CANCELLED and ‘immediately put up for sale over attitude issues’
LEEDS UNITED have terminated Djed Spence’s loan deal – and Tottenham have “immediately put him up for sale over attitude issues”.
The England Under-21 full-back was signed by the North London club from Middlesbrough in August 2022 in a £20m deal after he had shone on loan at Nottingham Forest.
However, the 23-year-old only made four Premier League appearances before he was shipped off to French side Rennes for the second half of last season.
After being deemed surplus to requirements by Ange Postecoglou, he moved to relegated Leeds on a season long loan at the start of this campaign.
But any hopes of the ace reigniting his career at Elland Road have now ended after he played just seven times for the Championship giants.
Tottenham chiefs were shocked on Thursday when Leeds terminated the loan with immediate effect and sent him back to them.
Throughout Spence’s career there have been question marks raised over his attitude – and now Leeds boss Daniel Farke has raised concerns again.
The Daily Mail has claimed that “Spurs are understood to hold similar reservations with regards to Spence’s attitude” and that the player’s “time-keeping had been a particular concern” for them.
Spence is due to be back in training at Tottenham tomorrow but this fresh report states that Spurs “are almost certain to look for a new club” for him before the end of the January transfer window.
Having initially insisted that the decision to send Spence back was made after an analysis of the first half of the season, in which he has suffered injury issues, Farke then spoke more about “professionalism and discipline” without criticising the defender outright.
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Speaking ahead of his side’s FA Cup clash with Peterborough, he said: “Listen, in the summer we came here in order to create and to bring new values and to create a new culture within the club and when we speak about a player if he’s on here on a permanent or a loan deal, we have expectations and these expectations are in several topics important.
“Obviously it’s important, the potential and the quality of the player but also his professionalism, his discipline, his workload on and off the pitch and also the soft skills, so also if he’s positive and committed, good for the group and engaged with these topics, paint then more or less a picture.
“And we decided okay, this is the player we want in our group and want to represent Leeds United, our demands are very, very high and we don’t differ between loan players, permanent players, so we are pretty picky in this topic.
“Yes, it’s fair to say there is no player out there in the world who is perfect in all disciplines. Every players has strengths and perhaps some weaknesses.
“’We have to decide from all these topics who we want in the squad and we analyse in the recent months and recent weeks and we came to the decision that it is right for us, right now, to end the loan.
“But when we make such a decision on such a day, it is not a topic I speak in public about. What was missing or the weaknesses of Djed Spence because as long as I am here in charge I want us as a club to handle such a situation with class and with style.
“I think on such a day, it’s more or less to say ‘Djed, thanks a lot for your service, thanks a lot for your work, wish him really all the best because he is a cool guy with lots of potentials, good future and great heart.
“For us, it was definitely the right call at this moment but I am far away to criticise him or speak about what was missing – that is not my style.”
Farke then added: “We should explain it was not easy for him because he came in pre-season a bit late and then to suffer a long-term injury that kept him out of team training for 8.5 weeks, that was also unlucky and no one can be blamed.
“Of course, especially for a player who comes on loan, the first weeks are important. If you are then 8.5 weeks of training all alone, at different times to the team, it is not the easiest way to settle in, to integrate into a group.
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“Also, something tragic happened in his private life so he had to stay in London for a few days and it is just a tragedy and you can’t accuse the lad for this.
“When he was back to fitness, he played on the left side that often due to the situation with Junior Firpo and Sam Byram being injured. In the last few games we only played him in his natural position on the right side.
“These lads don’t need any sympathy because they live a privileged life and they earn so much money and, yes, it is sometimes a bit difficult and unlucky and some players have to play unusual positions.
“Djed and not one player need sympathy, it is a privileged position to be there as a professional football player, to lead such a privileged life. But I want to highlight it wasn’t the easiest time for him.
“Sometimes you just have to say it was unlucky it didn’t work out but you have to be clear in your decision. It doesn’t take anything away that Djed has good potential.”