Forgotten Tottenham player set to leave the club 18 months after his last game

A forgotten Tottenham player is reportedly close to leaving the club on a permanent deal - 18 months since his last Premier League appearance.

Ange Postecoglou made a host of changes to his Spurs squad upon his arrival in north London last summer, spending over £100 million combined on the likes of James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Brennan Johnson.

Spurs also had transfer commitments relating to previous deals, with Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski arriving permanently for around £70 million.

That meant the Australian had to balance the books by selling some players, although most of his purchases were funded by the £100 million sale of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich.

One player who left the club on loan was Djed Spence, who joined Championship side Leeds until the end of the season. However, Daniel Farke's side decided to exercise an option to terminate the loan, with reports claiming that there were concerns over the player's professionalism and timekeeping. In a subsequent interview with The Athletic, Spence claimed some of the issues were 'a bit blown out of proportion'.

Tottenham decided to loan out the right-back again, with Spence joining Serie A side Genoa until the end of the campaign.

The 23-year-old played in all but two of the games he was available for his new club, but wasn't a regular starter and often appeared from the bench.

However, Fabrizio Romano claims that Genoa are in talks over a permanent deal for Spence, who made just four Premier League appearances for Spurs after signing from Middlesbrough in 2022.

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Previous manager Antonio Conte said that Spence was not his signing, with the Spurs hierarchy instead pushing for the deal to be completed.

Romano reports that the two clubs are 'advancing' in talks over Spence, and want to complete a deal before the end of June.

Spence played a key role in helping Nottingham Forest to earn promotion from the Championship in the summer of 2022, establishing himself as one of the top wing-backs outside of the Premier League.

He then infamously sent a tweet to his former Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock upon promotion, before embarking on a new chapter at Spurs. Spence will hope to recapture some of that form during the 2024/25 season - wherever he plays.