Djed Spence was excellent for Nottingham Forest against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday evening despite being on the losing side. Arsenal would have been particularly pleased with his performance as he put in a level of performance that Cedric Soares couldn’t match.
Arsenal also lost to Liverpool in the Premier League recently. A big reason for the defeat was due to Cedric’s inability to lockdown the Gunners’ right-hand side, as both of the visitors' goals had come from the Portuguese international’s area of the pitch.
With Mikel Arteta reportedly being in Spence, the difference in his performance against Liverpool, compared to Cedric’s was certainly telling. It should be enough proof that Arsenal should go through with their attempts to sign the young full-back.
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Takehiro Tomiyasu's absence against Liverpool was dearly missed. Cedric struggled against Jurgen Klopp's ferocious attack which was to be expected.
However, Spence looked defensively assured and performed excellently against Diogo Jota. The forward has replaced Didier Drogba as Arsenal’s biggest nemesis with the high amount of goals he has scored against the Gunners in recent times which totals to seven goals in seven games, but Spence’s influence if Edu pushes through with a deal could prevent Jota from scoring regularly against the club in the future.
Goal have reported that Arsenal want to sign Spence, who was a target of Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window. He has been linked with the club ever since his magnificent performance in the third round of the FA Cup, where Arsenal were embarrassingly eliminated at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
Spence had pocketed Gabriel Martinelli who was on magnificent form for the Gunners in the weeks leading up to the cup tie. The Englishman then carried his excellent display into the fourth round of the FA Cup against Leicester City, where Forest surprisingly ran rampant in a 4-1 victory.
Despite the excellent acquisition of Tomiyasu from Bologna in a bargain £19.8m deal, Arteta’s side still requires another right-back in the squad. Due to the sale of Calum Chambers, it means that Tomiyasu has been left with little competition for his spot.
Martinelli has already endorsed Spence as the ideal full-back signing for the summer. He was asked about the toughest individual opponent he has faced by The Athletic , and he said: “Actually the guy from Nottingham Forest, Djed Spence, who played against in the FA Cup.
"He is strong, good on the ball, calm & quick. I was surprised; he is a really good player," he added.
Spence proved that he is ready for a step up to the Premier League with his recent impressive FA Cup performances. And this has been further solidified when you take into consideration how Cedric struggled against Liverpool, but Spence thrived.
