Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Djed Spence will remain with the club despite speculation over his future.
Spence joined Spurs from Middlesbrough in 2022 after he impressed during a promotion-winning loan spell with Nottingham Forest in 2021-22.
After failing to force his way into Antonio Conte's plans, Spence was sent on loan to French side Rennes for the second half of the 2022-23 campaign.
Postecoglou's arrival last summer did little to affect Spence's status in the Tottenham squad, leading to him being loaned out to Championship club Leeds United and Serie A outfit Genoa.
Postecoglou confirms Spence plans
After being omitted from Postecoglou's plans for last season, there was seemingly an expectation that Spence would leave again before the summer transfer deadline.
However, Spence looks set to remain in North London, having done enough in pre-season to convince Postecoglou that he can play a role this season.
"With Djed, I had an open mind. I certainly think the kind of characteristics he has would fit into our football," Postecoglou told reporters ahead of Tottenham's opening Premier League game against Leicester City on Monday.
"It's then more about, OK, well he obviously didn't fit last year, will he fit this year? He's had a good pre-season. He's trained really well. He seems to have fit into the group really well."
Where will Spence be used this season?
Spence started the two friendly matches against Bayern Munich as a left-back, operating in his unnatural position due to Destiny Udogie's absence.
While left-back may not be Spence's most comfortable position, Postecoglou has admitted that his versatility could prove to be useful.
The Spurs boss added: "I don't think left-back is his obvious position, I think he's more of a right full-back, but the fact that he can play out on the left, again gives us some good options into the season where with European football we're going to have more challenges.
"It was quite obvious last year that whenever we had disruptions in terms of injuries or suspensions, our performance dropped a fair bit. We're trying to narrow that gap.
"Hopefully having Djed as part of our squad allows us to do that. He's training well, he's available for Monday and I'll make those decisions at the weekend."
Spence may have to settle for a place on the bench against Leicester, with Pedro Porro and Udogie in line to start as the two full-backs providing that they have no fitness issues. body check tags ::
