Ex-Tottenham Hotspur defender urges Antonio Conte to give Djed Spence game time or send him out on loan
Former Tottenham Hotspur right-back Alan Hutton has urged Antonio Conte to either give Djed Spence some playing time or send him out on loan.
Spence signed for the north London club for £20 million this summer from Championship side Middlesbrough. However, the 22-year-old has struggled for game time under Conte.
The right-back has only played four times this season in all competitions, amassing only 26 minutes of playing time in the process.
Now, former right-back Hutton, while speaking exclusively to Football Insider has urged the gaffer to either play the youngster or let him go out on loan.
“I think he is a fantastic player, I think he has a lot to give now. The enthusiasm is there.”
“When you look at Antonio Conte’s options, [Matt] Doherty and Emerson Royal, I do not think they have been setting the heather alight. So I do not understand why he is not getting a bigger opportunity.”
“If Conte is deciding at this moment in time that he is for the future then let him go out and play games. Let him go and build himself up, his confidence and show the manager what he is missing out on.”
It is not a wrong suggestion from the former Spurs defender. Spence looks nowhere near Conte’s plan for this season and it does not make sense to waste such a talent by leaving him out on the bench.
Spence not getting game time over Emerson and Doherty, as Hutton said, is surprising. Either Conte doesn’t rate the Englishman very highly, or he has different plans for him down the road.
Spence was phenomenal for Nottingham Forest on loan last season. The right-back played 50 games for Forest in all competitions and helped them secure promotion to the Premier League via the Championship play-off finals.
The player is also just 22 and has huge potential in him. If Conte has no plans for him in the second half of the season, it would make sense to send him out on loan to help his improvement rather than keeping him here and stalling it.
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A loan move could be ideal for both the club and the player. The 22-year-old should be able to attract interest, despite hardly playing this season and it remains to be seen if Spurs allow him to leave next month if things do come to that.
