Middlesbrough will feel vindicated by Tottenham player news: View | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly looking to allow former Middlesbrough right-back Djed Spence to leave the club again this summer, per Fabrizio Romano.

According to Football.London's Alasdair Gold, Spurs will be looking to find the 23-year-old a permanent move away from North London over the coming weeks.

It's a far cry from the expectations that Spurs, their fans, and indeed Spence himself would've had for his Tottenham career when he made the £20m move from Middlesbrough back in July 2022.

One man who perhaps isn't surprised to witness the trajectory Spence's career has followed is his former Middlesbrough manager, Neil Warnock.

It was the 75-year-old who told TalkSPORT via Nottingham Forest News back in 2022: "I had a few run-ins with Djed, to be honest, and a few words were said.

“I was honest with him and told him, ‘you could be playing for Bromley next year, or you could be in the Premier League’, so fair play to the lad."

Spence hasn't stepped up to top-flight task

Spence didn't begin his Tottenham career with the most glowing votes of confidence from his then manager Antonio Conte, with the Italian boss saying in an interview with South Korean press via The Standard at the time: "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.”

Hearing that it wasn't your new manager's idea to sign you is perhaps not exactly what you'd want to hear as you make a dream move to the Premier League.

And Conte's apparent lack of trust in Spence's ability showed, as he made just four Premier League appearances before being sent on loan to Rennes, in what would be the first of multiple loan deals to come.

He'd return to North London having made eight Ligue 1 appearances and was once again shipped out on loan to Leeds United at the start of last season by new boss Ange Postecoglou.

However, that season-long loan deal was cut short halfway through by Leeds boss Daniel Farke, as despite him saying "nothing major" had prompted this decision, he did appear to question Spence's attitude during his time at Elland Road.

The 23-year-old then saw his latest loan deal commissioned in the second half of last season, with a move to Serie A side Genoa.

In the two seasons since his move to Spurs from Middlesbrough, Spence has yet to register a single goal or assist during his 39 appearances, across four different clubs.

Boro in a far healthier place following Spence sale

In the transfer windows that followed, Middlesbrough were able to use the significant amount of money generated through sales such as Spence's, to wisely reinvest in players who would become some of Michael Carrick's key figures.

Spence's £12-20m move to Spurs alone was enough to fund the signings of Matt Clarke, Marcus Forss, Morgan Rogers, Emmanuel Latte Lath, and Finn Azaz respectively.

Crucially however, Boro have been able to find two right-backs in Tommy Smith and Luke Ayling respectively, who have been just as, and even more productive than Spence was in a Middlesbrough shirt, for nothing.

Therefore, Middlesbrough will have zero regrets over their sale of Spence, as the club are in a far healthier financial position because of it, and were able to recruit some star players as a result.