July 20, (THEWILL) – Antonio Conte, the head coach of Tottenham, has acknowledged that it was not his idea to buy Djed Spence, but he approved the transfer because he thinks the full-back might develop into an “important” player for the north London side.
After weeks of discussions with Middlesbrough, Spurs finally signed Spence on Tuesday, after first pursuing a deal in January. The defender is Tottenham’s sixth summer addition after the signings of Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Richarlison and Clement Lenglet.
Though he was keen to stress out that the 21-year-old has the potential to be a major player this season, Conte, who has the final say on signings, acknowledged that the club had identified Spence as a transfer target.
“Honestly when I spoke [to Daniel Levy] it was very simple because at the start of the conversation the club was very clear with me and said we reached an important achievement and maybe it was very difficult to think since November when I arrived to go into the Champions League, but now we want to continue to grow, to grow together with ambition.
“Also, for the club, it’s not simple to go into the transfer market and sign players free like Perisic and Forster and sign players on loan like Lenglet, and to sign players with money like Richarlison and Bissouma and Spence. Spence is an investment of the club. The club wanted to do it. I said okay, this player is young, but he showed he can become a good, important player for us. The club decided to buy him.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
