Tottenham signed Djed Spence from Middlesbrough earlier this month for a fee that could reach up to £20m.
Spence was Spurs’ 6th signing of the summer transfer window and is expected to provide competition for Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty.
Following his signing, Antonio Conte made some comments that caught the eye of the media.
Conte suggested that Spence was not his signing, but he gave the club permission to complete it as he saw something in Spence.
This caused quite the stir online for some reason. But now, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has shed some light on the Spence transfer, with the Italian suggesting that Yves Bissouma, Richarlison and even Ivan Perisic were not players Conte asked to sign:
“Antonio Conte told the truth about the Djed Spence deal,” Romano explained. “Spence is not a player asked by Conte himself, but I’m not sure why this grabbed so many headlines! This is also what happened for example with Ivan Perisic, Yves Bissouma and Richarlison.
“The club wanted to invest in Djed considering him a huge talent and then Conte approved the deal. The negotiation was conducted by the president Daniel Levy, of course with Fabio Paratici always there.
“Tottenham several times in the past have chosen to invest in young talents that the club believed in regardless.
“In any case, that’s not why the deal took so long and faced delays. This was for reasons related to his contract, which were eventually resolved.”
10 best midfielders to pick for your 2022/23 Fantasy Premier League side
10 best defenders to pick for your 2022/23 Fantasy Premier League side
