Liverpool's Full-Back Dilemma: The Case for Djed Spence
Liverpool’s summer to-do list has been dominated by one question: who comes after Mohamed Salah? But while the headlines chase goals and glamour, a quieter, more tactical dilemma sits at the heart of Andoni Iraola’s plans.
He needs full-backs. At least one. Realistically, two.
A World Cup surge puts Spence in the frame
Into that conversation, unexpectedly, walks Djed Spence.
Tottenham are ready to sell. Inter Milan are seen as frontrunners. Liverpool and Newcastle have been namechecked in the chase. And after a World Cup in which Spence has emerged as one of England’s standout performers, the idea no longer feels fanciful.
TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey reported on July 14 that Liverpool and Newcastle are “in the mix” for the Spurs defender, with the north London club prepared to green-light his exit. The fee is not small: Spurs are understood to want between £30-40 million, a figure that has swelled on the back of his displays for the Three Lions in North America.
For some, that number still sounds steep. For others, his profile makes the argument for them.
Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail, speaking on Anfield Index’s Media Matters, admitted Spence wasn’t even on his Liverpool radar until this summer.
“If you’d asked me this six weeks ago, I probably would have laughed you out of town because I didn’t really rate Djed Spence too highly at all,” he said. That view has shifted dramatically. “He’s done brilliantly at the World Cup. I thought he was England’s best player last night [vs Argentina in the semi-finals].”
That kind of performance, in that kind of game, forces recruitment departments to take a second look.
A solution on both flanks
Liverpool’s full-back situation is more fragile than it appears on paper.
On the left, Milos Kerkez needs genuine competition. Kostas Tsimikas has returned from his loan at Roma and will be assessed in pre-season as Iraola runs the rule over his options before the window shuts on September 1. On the right, depth and versatility remain nagging concerns.
This is where Spence starts to make football sense.
“He can play on the right and the left, which is exactly what Liverpool need,” Steele explained. “I think they’re a left back short. I think they’re a right back short.”
That flexibility is gold dust in a squad built around high intensity and tactical fluidity. A defender who can cover both sides allows Iraola to be braver with his rotations, bolder with his in-game tweaks, and less exposed to injury crises that have repeatedly bitten Liverpool in recent seasons.
Spence brings energy, one-v-one strength, and the kind of athletic profile that fits the club’s long-standing model. He is 25, entering his prime years, and now has a World Cup stage on his CV.
On paper, it clicks.
Sense over certainty
And yet, for all the logic, there is a hard line that Steele will not cross: he has not heard that Liverpool are actually moving for Spence.
“I’ve not heard anything really to suggest that Liverpool are going to make a move for him,” he admitted, even as he laid out the footballing case. The idea works. The information, for now, does not back it up.
“It would make an awful lot of sense if they were to step it up,” he added. “I haven’t had anything to suggest they will just yet.”
That tension captures Liverpool’s summer so far. Plenty of players who fit the model. Very few clear indications of who the club will truly commit to.
The Spence question is sharpened by the price. £30-40m is serious money for a player who, at Anfield, might initially be seen as cover for Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong, rather than an undisputed starter. Liverpool have rarely been a club to spend that bracket on depth alone.
Yet this is also a squad that has been stretched to breaking point before. Pay now for a multi-functional defender, or pay later when the fixtures pile up and the treatment room fills.
Barcola, Gakpo and the wider puzzle
Spence is only one piece of a broader, evolving picture.
Steele has also shed light on Liverpool’s pursuit of Bradley Barcola, suggesting that particular chase is primed to become the “story of the summer” as more sources weigh in on the winger’s future. The forward line is being reshaped carefully, not hurriedly.
One move that will not be part of any Liverpool–Tottenham trading this window is Cody Gakpo heading the other way. A fresh update on the Dutchman’s future has closed that door and underlined the club’s faith in him.
So the full-back conundrum remains. Kerkez needs help. The right side needs reinforcing. The calendar is unforgiving. The market is moving.
Djed Spence might never walk out at Anfield in red. But if Liverpool do decide to step into that race, nobody will be able to say the move doesn’t make football sense.
