Ange Postecoglou will undoubtedly be keeping an eye on the upcoming European Under-21 Championship later this month. Kicking off in Romania and Georgia next Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur will have two players taking part in the competition looking to go all the way.
The players in question are Oliver Skipp and Destiny Udogie, who will be representing England and Italy respectively. Djed Spence will not be taking part, however, after missing out on Lee Carsley's 23-man squad which was confirmed on Wednesday morning.
A regular in the squad over the past 12 months after his terrific loan spell at Nottingham Forest, Max Aarons and Ben Johnson will instead be the players who compete for the right-back role in the team. Spence's loan spell with Rennes did come to an early end at the beginning of May as he returned to Tottenham for treatment after a knee injury meant he would miss their final four league fixtures.
One of 24 England under-21 players called up to take part in a training camp at St George's Park in June, Spence played no part in their game behind closed doors against Japan last week and has now missed out on the squad for the finals altogether. football.london understands that his absence from the squad is down to a knee injury.
The injury is not thought to be a serious one but enough to keep him out of the tournament. The ex-Middlesbrough man can now fully concentrate on returning to full fitness and trying to make an impression on new boss Postecoglou once their summer preparations begin at Hotspur Way.
It really is a huge summer for the player after a nightmare first campaign in north London. Seen as someone who could potentially take the right wing-back role to the next level given the struggles of others, Spence was only played in six games by Conte even though the likes of Matt Doherty and Emerson Royal weren't pulling up any trees in their game time.
The Italian had made it clear in pre-season that the new addition was a "club" signing and he unfortunately just never turned to him prior to his loan exit to Rennes. Left out of the matchday squad nine times in the Premier League and only getting an opportunity from the bench in their cup fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Portsmouth when many would have been tempted to start him, Tottenham fans made their feelings perfectly clear when Spence was given a rare shot in the first team.
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Now having Pedro Porro to contend with upon his return following the Spaniard's January move from Sporting CP, Spence has a tough task on his hands to move ahead of the player and Emerson in the pecking order. Postecoglou will take a good look at all his Tottenham players this summer, meaning some of those who were previously out of favour under Conte could quite easily come into his thinking.
Spence could fall into that category if he can have a strong pre-season and impress the new head coach during the summer friendlies against West Ham, Leicester City and Roma. Having joined Tottenham as a right wing-back, the Lilywhites will now revert to operating with full-backs as Postecoglou's teams play in a 4-3-3 setup.
The ex-Fulham youngster does have experience of playing in the position having been utilised there for England under-21s and also at club level, most recently during his short time in France with Rennes. That could stand him in good stead, though, especially with Porro needing to adapt to playing as a right-back and improve on his defensive play after really struggling there in the 6-1 hammering against Newcastle United in April.
Porro has impressed in an attacking sense since his January move, contributing three goals and three assists in 17 games for Tottenham. His final outing of the season did highlight that he could potentially play in a more attacking role on a regular basis for Spurs after wowing in the 4-1 win over Leeds with a goal and an assist.
If Postecoglou is to decide that he wants to make use of the player's attacking qualities further upfield or he is not convinced about him defensively, that could possibly play into Spence's hands going into the new season. Regardless of whether that is the case or not, Spence will be looking to make up for lost time and demonstrate to all at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that he can play a major role in the team right now.
If Porro and Emerson are to be ahead of him in the pecking order, another loan move could well come to fruition as Spence needs to be playing week in, week out to ensure he is at the required level when his Tottenham opportunity finally arrives. Playing a total of 41 minutes for Spurs since his summer switch from Middlesbrough, all will be hoping plenty more are to follow in the 2023/24 season as Postecoglou looks to discover the perfect right-back in his Tottenham masterplan.
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