“He has an incredible physicality but….”: Cristian Stellini delivers his verdict on one ‘expectional’ spurs star who’s attitude displeases Ange Postecoglou thereby earning less game time [Full Story]
Cristian Stellini has delivered his verdict on Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence ahead of his proposed loan move to Genoa.
Spurs are on the verge of signing Radu Dragusin today. The Romanian has reportedly passed his medical, and once his signing is made official, Spence will head in the opposite direction on loan until the end of this season.
Cristian Stellini praises Tottenham’s Djed Spence
Cristian Stellini spent close to 17 months at Tottenham, first as an assistant to Antonio Conte and later as the club’s caretaker manager.
The 49-year-old will not be remembered fondly by the fans because of how results turned out under him, but he definitely has more insight into Spurs players than all of us.
After reports emerged that Djed Spence is all set to join Genoa on loan until the end of the season as a part of the Radu Dragusin deal, Italian outlet Buon Calcio A Tutti contacted Stellini for his thoughts on the 23-year-old Tottenham defender.
The Italian claimed Spence is a great talent who possesses fantastic speed, explosiveness and physicality, but he still has a lot of room for improvement, especially in attack.
Stellini said: “Spence is a very polite boy, very reserved. I would define him as very calm, with great explosiveness and great speed. The English league has a lot of these types of very physical talents.
“He is a 23-year-old boy who has a lot of room for improvement, especially in the final phase of the action: both in finishing and in making assists. He definitely has to grow up, otherwise he wouldn’t be so young.
“But he is a player with incredible physicality and great technical ability to play tight. Both from a standstill and at speed he can become dangerous. In the past, he made a leap in category a little too high, in the sense that he won a Serie B championship with Nottingham Forrest and found himself at Tottenham, in a very strong team.
“Genoa is a good opportunity for him and to demonstrate his talent.”
Ange Postecoglou was annoyed with Spence’s attitude
Djed Spence joined Tottenham from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2022 in a £20 million deal (Sky Sports).
There were plenty of top clubs interested in signing the talented full-back, but Daniel Levy managed to beat everyone else for his signature.
However, Spence has played just 41 minutes of senior football for Tottenham and has been loaned out twice already. He’s on the verge of his third spell away from Spurs to Genoa.
The reason why Ange Postecoglou hasn’t given him an opportunity is because the Spurs boss was far from impressed with the full-back in pre-season.
The Evening Standard claims that Spence struggled with punctuality and failed to show the right attitude. That made the decision to let him leave this month a fairly straightforward one.
