Tottenham are set for fresh interest in one of their World Cup stars this summer, and Chelsea may have had a hand in it. Spurs have had a memorable summer transfer window so far, splashing out more than £235million to strengthen their squad and welcoming Jan Paul van Hecke, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali as well as others.
Roberto De Zerbi is expected to turn Spurs into a side ready to qualify for Europe, and he is being given money to spend to transform a squad that has finished in the bottom half in back-to-back seasons. But while the spending has taken up all of Tottenham's window so far, there will be exits.
Spurs will have to balance the spending, at least somewhat, and there are players who are going to want to leave the club this summer, while others may get their head turned by other teams.
Inter Milan join race for Tottenham's Djed Spence
England World Cup star Djed Spence is attracting attention this summer, with Everton and Liverpool having already been linked, while there is now said to be fresh competition. According to reports in Italy, as detailed by Football Italia, Inter Milan are now considering a deal for Spence as they look to solve their right-back need this summer. Inter are said to have been on track to sign Atalanta right-back Marco Palestra only for Chelsea to hijack the deal, and that has led them back into the market.
Nahuel Molina and Brooke Norton-Cuffy are also said to be under consideration, but as is Spence, who has a reported asking price of £40million this summer. Spurs will want to keep the versatile full-back, who is enjoying a solid World Cup for England, largely playing off the bench.
Spence is becoming a reliable player
Spence's development at Tottenham has not been linear, and it once looked as though his Spurs career was over before it had really begun. But the full-back has slowly become more dependable, and he was one of the more reliable players last season. A BBC Sport report of Spence's performances back in February read: "He has even been playing out of position - fielded at left-back to fill in for Destiny Udogie when he is more naturally a right-back. Admittedly, there have been plenty of defeats on his watch, but Spence has held his own and the stats bear witness to his impact.
"Among defenders, only the combative Cristian Romero has a better duel success percentage this season in the Premier League for Tottenham - from exactly the same number of duels (the joint-third most for the team). Even more striking is the number of times he has been dribbled past - or not.
"His record of being beaten only three times is the best of any Tottenham defender. Compare that with his full-back rivals Udogie and Pedro Porro (even though they have played more minutes than Spence), and his ability in one-on-one situations is emphasised."
After Spence's impressive cameo for England against Norway, Rio Ferdinand posted on X: “DJED SPENCE – respect. People need to put some respect on his name!”