Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence has accused former boss Antonio Conte of "shattering his confidence." Spence, 25, was recently called up to the England squad for the first time in his career by Thomas Tuchel.
He has enjoyed a transformative 18 months in north London, which has seen him go from a Spurs outcast to a soon-to-be full England international. If you were to ask the versatile defender if he envisaged pulling on the Three Lions shirt a few years ago, he may have shaken his head. When Conte was boss, the Italian made it clear he did not really want the ex-Nottingham Forest star, describing him as a "club signing" and even blasting Spurs fans who called for him to give the defender an opportunity.
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Conte, who is now in charge at Napoli, made it clear Spence was not his signing, saying: "Spence is an investment of the club. The club wanted to do it. The club decided to buy him."
Under Conte's management, Spence didn't start a single Premier League match before being loaned out to French side Rennes just five months later. Looking back on the Italian's damning comments, Spence suggested it helped drive him on.
He said: "I would probably say the biggest hurdle is when I signed for Tottenham and I didn't necessarily feel the love straight away, with the manager and everything. I was on such a high going into the club.
"When I went there, I was on a high, and then I almost came crashing down because of comments from the manager and not playing. I was in a difficult space then.
"I am buzzing, I am going to sign for Tottenham. So to hear comments like that wasn't nice. It does shatter your confidence a bit. But, you know, I am a fighter. So, whatever I do I will try to do my best in everything I can. Fast forward, I am here now, so I am happy.
"I wouldn't say I particularly have a list or anything, but I do have a mental note of people who doubted me, for sure, and it does feel good to prove them wrong. Obviously, at the time it wasn't nice but I feel like I don't put my energy into certain things like that. I just focus, do what I need to do. I've got a good family behind me that keeps me focused."
Spence did not play his best football while on loan at Rennes, Middlesbrough, Leeds United and Genoa, but played a big role under Ange Postecoglou. He started all but two of the final 15 Premier League matches of the campaign.
Under Thomas Frank, he has played every single available minute for Spurs, including their narrow penalty shoot-out loss to Paris Saint Germain in the Super Cup. Spence will hope to play a similarly important role in England's World Cup qualifier clashes against Andorra and Serbia.