| Djed Spence | |
| Full Name: | Diop Tehuti Djed-Hotep Spence[1] |
| Birth Date: | 9 August 2000[2] |
| Birth Place: | London, England[3] |
| Height: | 1.84 m[4] |
| Position: | Full-back |
| Currentclub: | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Clubnumber: | 24 |
| Youthyears1: | 2016–2018 |
| Youthclubs1: | Fulham |
| Years1: | 2018–2022 |
| Clubs1: | Middlesbrough |
| Caps1: | 63 |
| Goals1: | 2 |
| Years2: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs2: | → Nottingham Forest (loan) |
| Caps2: | 39 |
| Goals2: | 2 |
| Years3: | 2022– |
| Clubs3: | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Caps3: | 8 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2023 |
| Clubs4: | → Rennes (loan) |
| Caps4: | 8 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2023–2024 |
| Clubs5: | → Leeds United (loan) |
| Caps5: | 7 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 2024 |
| Clubs6: | → Genoa (loan) |
| Caps6: | 16 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2022–2023 |
| Nationalteam1: | England U21 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 6 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 23:28, 23 November 2024 (UTC) |
Diop Tehuti Djed-Hotep Spence (born 9 August 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a full-back for club Tottenham Hotspur. Mainly a right-back he has also been deployed as a left-back.
Spence is the younger brother of actress Karla-Simone Spence.[5] He was born in England to a Jamaican father and Kenyan mother.[6]
Spence signed for Middlesbrough on 1 July 2018, having previously been with Fulham's academy.[2] [3] He made his debut for Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup on 14 August 2018, appearing as a substitute versus Notts County at the Riverside Stadium.[7] Spence made his league debut for Middlesbrough in a 1–0 win over Charlton Athletic on 7 December 2019, scoring his first league goal in a 1–0 win against Huddersfield Town on 26 December 2019.
On 11 January 2020 Spence won EFL Young Player of the Month, following his league debut, first goal and three clean sheets.[8]
On 1 September 2021, it was announced Spence would join Nottingham Forest on loan for the remainder of the season.[9] He scored his first goal for Forest in a 3–0 win over Birmingham City on 2 October.[10] Spence impressed in FA Cup victories over Premier League clubs Arsenal and Leicester City, scoring the fourth in a 4–1 victory over the latter.[11]
Spence was awarded the EFL Championship Player of the Month award for March 2022[12] as well as being nominated for the Goal of the Month award following his long range strike against Queens Park Rangers[13] which he was ultimately awarded.[14] Having also been nominated for the Championship Young Player of the Season, Spence made it a hat-trick of awards for March 2022 when he won the EFL Young Player of the Month award for the second time in his career, becoming the first player to win it twice in the process.[15]
Spence played a vital role in Nottingham Forest's promotion winning side, and was featured in both the EFL Championship Team of the Season and the PFA Championship team of the season.[16] [17]
On 19 July 2022, Tottenham Hotspur announced the signing of Spence on a five-year contract, for a reported fee of £20 million.[18] [19] He made his Tottenham debut on 29 August, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–0 win against former club Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.[20]
On 31 January 2023, Spence joined French Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais on a loan until the end of the 2022–23 season.[21] He made ten appearances for Rennes, including nine starts,[22] one of which was a 2–0 win over Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes, the Parisian team's first league defeat at home in 23 months.[23]
On 30 August 2023, EFL Championship club Leeds United announced the signing of Spence on a season-long loan from Tottenham Hotspur.[24] He made his debut for the club in a Championship fixture against Sheffield Wednesday on 2 September, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 draw.[25]
On 18 September 2023, Spence suffered a knee ligament injury in training that would see him out of action for until December.[26] [27] He made his comeback from injury on 9 December, playing 20 minutes against Blackburn Rovers[27] and went on to start Leeds' next five Championship fixtures.[28]
On 4 January 2024, Leeds triggered a break clause to terminate Spence's loan spell, seeing him return to Tottenham Hotspur.[29]
On 11 January 2024, Spence signed for Serie A club Genoa on a loan deal until the end of the season.[30] He made 16 Serie A appearances for the Rossoblù in the second half of the season. However, the club was unable to meet the option to buy fee of £8.5m at the end of his loan spell and he returned to Tottenham Hotspur.[31]
On 19 August 2024, Spence made his first appearance for Tottenham since January 2023 in their opening fixture of the 2024–25 season, replacing Pedro Porro as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with Leicester City in the Premier League.[32] He scored his first competitive goal for the club in a 2–1 EFL Cup win over Coventry City on 17 September.[33]
In March 2022, Spence earned a first international call up to the England Under-21 squad for the upcoming Under-21 European Championship Qualifying matches against Andorra and Albania.[34] He made his debut as a substitute during a 3–0 victory away to the latter on 29 March 2022.[35]
Spence primarily plays as a right-back, and is known for his pace and dribbling ability.[36] He has been praised by Ian Wright, who described him as "combative, technical, swashbuckling", and Wes Morgan, who compared him to a Rolls-Royce.[37] [38]
| Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Fulham U23 | 2017–18 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Middlesbrough | 2018–19 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | Championship | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 1 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Championship | 38 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 1 | ||||
| 2021–22 | Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 63 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 70 | 2 | |||||
| Middlesbrough U23 | 2018–19 | — | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| Nottingham Forest (loan) | 2021–22 | Championship | 39 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 46 | 3 | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2022–23 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2024–25 | Premier League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 1 | |||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 1 | ||||
| Rennes (loan) | 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | ||||
| Leeds United (loan) | 2023–24 | Championship | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Genoa (loan) | 2023–24 | Serie A | 16 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 0 | |||||
| Career total | 141 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 164 | 6 | |||
Nottingham Forest
Individual