The season is only two games old but some Tottenham fans are already starting to panic about Djed Spence's lack of game time.
The 22-year-old was not among the substitutes for Spurs' 2-2 draw at Chelsea, instead taken to Stamford Bridge with 19-year-old Pape Matar Sarr as the 21st and 22nd men, available in case of illness or injury to others.
Coupled with Antonio Conte's admission in South Korea that Spence was a club signing, albeit one that he believed had "showed he can become a good, important player for us", some fans are already worrying. 'Where is Spence?', 'Conte doesn't want him' and 'he won't get a minute this season' were written across social media as some Tottenham supporters feared the worst after only 90 minutes of the season.
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The truth is that Conte's bench was simply the most balanced one he could pick with the return of Richarlison from suspension. Had Spence been named among the substitutes then the Spurs boss would have been overloaded with four right wing-back options on the bench in Spence, Matt Doherty, Lucas Moura and the versatile Ivan Perisic, with Emerson Royal on the pitch, and the same decision to have to leave out Spence could be made again this weekend against Wolves.
Conte is being patient with all of his six new signings and none of them started the opening two matches as he made it clear that he trusted his "old players" more and that the new boys had to work hard on the training pitches first to understand his ways, impress him and get their fitness up his required levels.
Even 33-year-old Ivan Perisic, who won the Serie A title with Conte - they know each other inside out - and also has a Champions League winner's medal to his name along with Bundesliga titles with Bayern and Dortmund, has had to wait for his chance.
So 21-year-old Spence, who has never played a top flight match, was always going to have to be patient and so will the fans.
The England U21 international was signed for £12.5m, with Middlesbrough potentially receiving another £7.5m in add-ons if the wide man meets certain criteria in the years ahead.
There is plenty of belief within Spurs that Spence will meet them. The club's managing director of football Fabio Paratici watched him in the flesh on a number of occasions and decided that he could develop into something perfect for Conte as well as being a great deal for the club.
The club's sixth signing was one very much tailored towards Conte's requirements as well as helping Spurs' homegrown player requirements.
Some within the club have said that in previous seasons Spence would not have been signed for Conte's predecessors, but for the Italian the 21-year-old ticks all of the key skillsets that the current head coach requires in his wing-backs, including his height, pace, strength, fitness and ability to take on players with the ball.
Spence completed more take-ons last season while on loan at Nottingham Forest than all of Spurs' four wing-backs combined and he created chances galore for his team-mates during the campaign, even if their profligacy ensured his assists did not reflect that. Conte will work with him to improve that as well as his ability to get in at the back post to finish off moves from the left.
Spence understands that he will need to be patient to learn the Conte way and reach the remarkable fitness levels that requires from the wing-backs who must be defenders in one moment and auxiliary strikers in the next at the other end of the pitch.
Spence is close friends with Ryan Sessegnon and will have seen the time it took his former Fulham academy team-mate to break into Tottenham's starting line-up and Sessegnon was one of the most talented youngsters in the game.
The new boy knows that he will have to be as patient in getting his chance as he was in waiting for his move from Middlesbrough to happen and he has a manager he was desperate to join up with.
"[The wait] didn’t really affect me too much. I was always certain of coming here. It didn’t affect me too much. I just focused on what I was doing, training hard. That was it, really," Spence told football.london out in Israel in pre-season. "The manager [was a big draw], obviously the club itself is a big club. Champions League football. Those were the things that made me want to come.
"The manager knows what he wants and he wants his players to work hard. I’m willing to do that. I think it’s going to be a good season for everyone.
"Hopefully I can make a quick impact, no one really likes waiting, although I know you've got to be patient and if you get the chance, you've got to take it."
When asked what Conte had told him he is expecting from him, Spence said: "Just buy into what he’s doing, work hard and just play well when I get my chance. That's it."
Perisic has been imparting his wisdom and knowledge of Conte's demands to both Spence and Sessegnon this summer and you will see the Croatian speaking to both of them before, after and sometimes during matches.
Just before that interview in Israel, Spence said: "I spoke to Ivan just then. He told me my chance will come, just be ready, train hard, when you get your chance do well and hopefully you'll stay in the team."
Spence impressed last season against Premier League opposition in the FA Cup including Arsenal, Leicester and Liverpool, but he knows that playing in the competition week in, week out will be a very different
"They’re just more ruthless [in the Premier League]. It’s just a better level in every way," said the youngster. "Hopefully I can take those performances into the Premier League. Do well for the team, do well for myself and hopefully we can do good things this season."
On Thursday, when football.london asked Conte about the club's seventh signing Destiny Udogie, the Spurs boss said that both the 19-year-old left wing-back and Spence are players who need to be developed first.
It's worth noting that Udogie played a full season in Serie A last season and is tipped for a senior Italy call-up during this campaign, so even though he is younger than Spence he has more top flight experience.
"You said it well, [Udogie] is a player for the future. I think he is a good prospect for Tottenham because we are talking about a young player. For sure this player needs to develop like Spence and in my opinion a good investment for the club," said Conte.
"Now he continues to play in this season with Udinese and in this way he has the possibility to play regularly. When you are young you need to play to improve your experience. For sure we are talking about a good prospect, but we are talking about a player for the future not for the present. He has to develop and to grow with a group of players with more experience."
Conte was speaking about Udogie but he was clearly also giving his take on Spence in the same breath.
There will be plenty of chances for minutes in the months ahead for Spence, not only in the domestic competitions but his homegrown status will also help get him into the club's Champions League squad.
football.london understands Spence has no interest in a quick loan move away and that was always part of his decision-making about his next step in his career. He wanted to move to a club where he could grow as a player and fight for his place. There is also no guarantee that Tottenham will end the summer transfer window with all three right wing-backs at the club.
Conte is a wing-back whisperer - Perisic can attest to that - and if Spence listens to the trophy-laden Italian head coach and works hard he has all of the attributes to become a Premier League star in time.
When football.london asked in Israel what the Tottenham supporters can expect from him during this coming campaign, Spence thought for a moment before suggesting: "Hopefully I can bring excitement to the team, bring something different and give the fans something to cheer about."
Djed Spence knows the assignment and now patience and hard work are required if he is to become the latest wing-back star off the Conte production line.
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