Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly demanding at least £10million more for Djed Spence after his performances for England at the World Cup this summer. It is claimed that Spence is open to a move away from the north London club.
The 25-year-old, who featured regularly for Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions in North America, earned admirers for his displays during this summer’s tournament. Overall, the defender had a mixed World Cup as England crashed out in the semi-finals to Argentina before finishing third with a win over France in FIFA's 'bronze medal' match.
Spence earned praise for his substitute appearances against Croatia, Mexico and Norway while drawing criticism for unconvincing performances against Ghana and DR Congo. The full-back was chastised by Tuchel from the sidelines on several occasions, but took this criticism in his stride.
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Nevertheless, he faces an uncertain future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer. Serie A champions Inter Milan are among the sides interested and Italian football journalist and transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio has provided the latest on Spence's situation to Wettfreunde.net.
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He said: "It's a strange situation because before the World Cup, I don't know if Tottenham wanted to sell Djed Spence, but they were open to hearing about eventual and potential offers, and the price was like €25m, plus €5m, so €30m.
"During and after the World Cup, there was one club that asked for him, and it was Inter Milan, and Inter Milan fought to get him for that price, but after the start of the contacts with Tottenham and the people involved in the deal, the price was really high.
"I think it's more than €40m and even De Zerbi is not sure if he wants to let Spence go because he's never said Spence has to leave.
"So I think that Spence can leave, but it will not be for the price that was there at the beginning of the World Cup. Inter Milan is one of the teams that wants him, but they have to arrive with an offer near €40m or more, and I don't think that Inter Milan wants to spend all that money for a player in that position."
Inter's links with Spence follow the departure of Denzel Dumfries to Real Madrid. The experienced Dutchman had spent five years at the San Siro and made over 200 appearances for the Nerazzurri.
And reports claim Spence would be open to leaving Spurs and may relish the opportunity to establish himself as the Italian champions' first-choice right-back.
The former Nottingham Forest man made 44 appearances for Spurs last term as they came dangerously close to relegation from the Premier League.
Roberto De Zerbi's side escaped the drop on the final day of the season amid a torrid campaign. Tottenham’s hierarchy have already made it clear this summer that the club has no intention of repeating the disastrous previous two campaigns, which ended with consecutive 17th-place finishes.
Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali have joined for a combined £177.5m this summer. The big-money duo have joined Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi, Andy Robertson and Martin Dubravka as new arrivals in a reshaped squad under De Zerbi.