Former Tottenham star and England international Eric Dier has revealed he is excited to watch Djed Spence at this summer’s World Cup and believes there is even more to come.
It came as a surprise to many when Thomas Tuchel included Djed Spence in England’s squad for the upcoming World Cup, particularly ahead of players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Lewis Hall, both of whom arguably enjoyed stronger club seasons than the Tottenham defender.
However, the England manager later explained exactly why he made that decision, and it was difficult to argue with his reasoning.
Spence then went a long way towards silencing any remaining critics on Saturday when he produced a brilliant assist for Harry Kane’s winner against New Zealand in a friendly.
Like many of us, decade-long Tottenham defender Eric Dier has also been following Spence’s progress closely and is delighted to see his former teammate earn a place in England’s World Cup squad.
“I’m excited to see him with the new manager at Spurs next season’ – Eric Dier
Speaking to Tottenham Hotspur’s official website, Eric Dier was asked what message he would give Djed Spence ahead of the tournament.
The former Spurs defender said: “Just to enjoy it. I’ve already told him to! We were together at the club for a while and we stay in touch. I spoke to him a couple of days ago.
“It will be one of the best experiences he’s going to have in his career and, hopefully, he’ll have more.
“I think Djed has fantastic individual characteristics, some of them physical, some of them technical and some of them mental.
“I’m excited to see him with the new manager at Spurs next season. I think he has fantastic attributes. He just needs to keep working hard and stay calm. He has fantastic abilities and I like him, too. I feel like he had a tough time, you know, for a while and he showed real resilience to get through that.”
Dier knows better than most what it takes to perform on football’s biggest international stage, having represented England at two World Cups himself.
Djed Spence provides update on broken jaw injury
Spence’s excellent display against New Zealand was made even more impressive by the fact that he is still playing through the effects of a broken jaw.
The 24-year-old suffered the injury after taking a nasty elbow from Liam Delap during Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea last month and has worn a protective face mask ever since.
Speaking after England’s victory, Spence confirmed that the mask will remain part of his kit throughout the World Cup.
“It’s a little bit uncomfortable but it is what it is,” he said.
“I’ve got a broken jaw so I have to wear it throughout the tournament. It’s something I will have to get used to. It’ll be three months until it’s fully healed, so it’s a long time.
“It was painful but luckily I play football with my feet and not my jaw. So I was all good.”
The injury has clearly done little to slow Spence down, and after his assist at the weekend, Tottenham supporters will be hoping he can carry that confidence into the World Cup and also the new season under Roberto De Zerbi.