Djed Spence: Liverpool's Target Amid Spurs Hesitation
Andoni Iraola has picked his man. Liverpool’s new manager is pushing hard to add a defender before the window closes, and all roads now lead to one name: Djed Spence.
Liverpool circle as Spurs hesitate
After years on the fringes and a carousel of loans at Rennes, Leeds United and Genoa, Spence finally forced his way into the picture at Tottenham at the back end of the 2025-26 season. Those late‑campaign performances have changed the tone of his career. From surplus to requirement, to a full-back suddenly in demand across Europe.
Liverpool are watching closely. Iraola wants energy and aggression from his backline, and Spence, at 25, fits the profile: quick, front‑foot, and coming off a strong international summer. The club are ready to move if Spurs show any willingness to cash in before the deadline.
The problem? Tottenham’s new reality under Roberto De Zerbi.
De Zerbi’s hierarchy and Spurs’ hard line
For all Spence’s progress, his future in north London is still blurred. De Zerbi is understood to lean towards Pedro Porro and Andy Robertson as his first-choice full-backs, a pecking order that leaves Spence in an awkward middle ground: too valuable to ignore, not quite central to the coach’s plans.
That tension has opened the door. It hasn’t blown it off the hinges.
Spence signed a contract extension last August, tying him to Spurs until June 2028. It gives the club a powerful hand at the negotiating table and they intend to use it. Tottenham are described as “open” to a sale, but only on their terms: an offer in the region of £35 million before they even think about doing business.
His value has surged off the back of his international displays, and Spurs are in no mood to let a rejuvenated asset walk out cheaply.
Inter step in – and raise the stakes
Just as Liverpool began to position themselves, the competition stiffened. From Italy, and from the very top.
Inter have moved Spence to the top of their list as they search for a new long-term solution at full-back. Denzel Dumfries has gone to Real Madrid, leaving a sizeable gap on the right side of Cristian Chivu’s system. Inter’s scouts liked what they saw on the global stage; their hierarchy liked it enough to act.
Talks have already taken place with the player’s representatives. Inside the corridors of power at Appiano Gentile, Beppe Marotta and Piero Ausilio are weighing up the numbers and, crucially, are ready to stretch them. They fear one thing: wait too long, and Spence’s rising profile will push his price further out of reach.
Liverpool’s interest has only sharpened that anxiety. Inter know they are not just bidding against Spurs’ valuation, but against the pull of Anfield.
A player torn between two paths
Spence himself has been given time to breathe. After helping England to a third-place finish at the World Cup, he was granted an extended break and skipped Tottenham’s pre-season tour of New Zealand and Australia, missing games against Auckland FC and Sydney FC.
That absence has fuelled the sense that a crossroads is approaching.
Italy already means something to him. His loan spell at Genoa was one of the turning points of his career, a period where he found rhythm and responsibility. A return to Serie A, this time with Inter, carries obvious appeal.
Yet Liverpool is Liverpool. The chance to work under Iraola in a high-intensity Premier League side, at a club that still sees itself as a destination for players in their prime, remains a powerful counterweight.
As the clock ticks towards the deadline, Spurs hold the contract, Liverpool and Inter hold the desire, and Spence holds the final instinct that will decide it.
One of England’s most improved defenders is on the brink of a defining move. The only question left is which shade of red – or blue – will frame the next chapter of his career.
