In the January market window of the 2023/24 season, the one that brought Genoa back to Serie A after a year in Serie B, the club completed a particularly curious deal: the loan signing of Djed Spence from Tottenham, with a €10 million option to buy, while at the same time closing the deal that took Radu Dragusin in the opposite direction. Spence’s time in Genoa was not especially memorable. By June, the club had decided not to make the move permanent and the defender returned to London. Since then, the two paths have taken a very different turn: Dragusin came back to Italy to wear the Fiorentina shirt, while Spence became a significant figure at Spurs and earned a place in the England squad. Not simply as an extra body. He has become part of Thomas Tuchel’s rotation. So far at the World Cup, he has played all six matches, starting two and entering four from the bench. In reality, Spence’s place in Tuchel’s plans came about because of Tino Livramento’s injury, suffered only a few days before the tournament. The Tottenham full-back filled the role that had been expected to go to the Newcastle player. The choice to take him to the World Cup, however, meant leaving out Trent Alexander-Arnold — a far more established name. Perhaps, as iNews suggested in its analysis, the key is his versatility. Spence is a full-back with physical power and attacking instinct, a player who at Tottenham has occasionally been used further forward, but above all someone capable of operating on the left as well. During Spurs’ troubled last season, the simultaneous absences of Davies, Udogie and Souza effectively pushed Frank, Tudor and then De Zerbi towards the same solution: moving him across the pitch. It worked.
That adaptability has also been part of his route back into the Tottenham picture. Before Genoa, Spence had already spent time on loan at Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Rennes. He arrived back at Spurs with plenty still to prove, but enough qualities to stay around the first team. Not as a guaranteed starter, given the competition in his position — Pedro Porro remains ahead of him on the right — but enough to catch Tuchel’s attention. Then came the injury, the mask, the image. In the United States and Mexico, Spence played with protection over his jaw after suffering a fracture before the tournament. It gave his appearances an extra visual weight, the kind of detail that can turn a player into a symbol. He is also the first Muslim footballer to represent England at a World Cup, adding another layer to the attention that has surrounded him. An unexpected hero, perhaps. The next chapter is still unwritten. At this World Cup, certainly. And on the market too, with Inter already among the clubs linked with him.