Club director confirms they are in talks with Tottenham over a deal for 23-year-old

Genoa’s sporting director has now confirmed that the club are in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over a permanent deal for Djed Spence.

Spence’s loan spell at Leeds United in the first half of the season did not go according to plan, with the right-back being out injured for a significant part of his time at Elland Road.

It came as a surprise when the Championship side decided to prematurely cut short his spell in January, with Daniel Farke hinting that it was down to disciplinary issues on the player’s part (talkSPORT).

The 23-year-old joined Genoa on loan in January, with the Serie A club having the option to make the deal permanent for £8.5m this summer.

While Spence has received rave reviews for some of his performances at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium (Virgilio Sport), he has not been a fixture in Alberto Gilardino’s starting eleven, having made nine league appearances since his switch to Italy (Transfermarkt).

Genoa are interested in a deal for Djed Spence

However, Ottolini has now insisted that he is in regular conversations with the right-back as well as Spurs about the player’s future.

He told CaughtOffside: “I speak with Djed every week. We have created a good environment for him. We are trying to make him feel warm and welcome here, and this will then translate into his performances on the pitch. We want to give him the right conditions to perform.

“We still have seven games to go and we want to see what he can do. Personally, I like Djed and how he is doing, and how he is training.

“Of course, he can do more, and he knows this, but we are in contact with Spurs and will evaluate a deal over the next few months giving us time to understand both our positions and Djed’s perspective on potentially staying here.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Given that there is a clear option to buy attached to the loan deal, one does wonder why Genoa would have to talk to Spurs about the Spence deal.

This admission by Ottolini is perhaps a hint that Tottenham and Genoa are also having conversations over a deal for Albert Gudmundsson, with Spurs potentially prepared to use Spence as a sweetener in the operation.

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