Tottenham Hotspur will be willing to allow a right wing-back to depart the club this month regardless of whether they bring in Pedro Porro.
What’s the latest?
There is the belief a deal for the Sporting CP right wing-back, Porro, is edging closer, with Fabrizio Romano sharing the details of the clubs’ meetings over the last 24 hours.
Porro’s potential arrival in north London would mean Antonio Conte would then have four right wing-back’s to choose from with Matt Doherty, Emerson Royal and Djed Spence already at the club.
However, there has been a report from the reliable Alasdair Gold suggesting Spurs would now greenlight Spence’s potential departure on loan this month.
And speaking on the Last Word on Spurs podcast, Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth has claimed Porro’s possible arrival will not determine whether a right wing-back will leave the club:
“The information that I’ve got is that Porro arriving is completely independent of any departures. It’s not a case of Porro comes [in] so we can let Djed Spence go. I don’t think that’s the case at all.”
Spence searching for game time
The reports surrounding a possible deal for Porro will make positive reading for Spurs fans with the likes of Romano claiming the meetings on Wednesday went well for the Lilywhites.
However, it does make us wonder what Spence would have been able to provide Spurs this season had Antonio Conte offered him a serious opportunity in the XI.
Right wing-back has been a real issue for Spurs this season with Doherty and Emerson only returning two goals and one assist between them this season.
With this in mind, it is pretty obvious why Spurs are looking to bring in Porro when he has returned Sporting with three goals and 11 assists across all competitions this season.
But it does beg the question as to whether Spence could have provided the Italian with an improvement on the likes of Doherty and Emerson.
Since landing in north London over the summer, the 22-year-old has been offered just 41 minutes of competitive football under the 53-year-old manager.
Yet in the winter friendly game against Motherwell, Spence was one of the players who impressed the most with Gold hailing the youngster’s attacking threat:
“Showed some lovely footwork in getting high up down the right-hand side and put in a couple of dangerous early crosses.”
“This was an eye-catching performance from the 22-year-old,” Gold wrote.
However, the opportunities after the World Cup break have not come for Spence with his only appearances since coming in the final 13 minutes of the FA Cup and the final two minutes against Aston Villa.
There are clubs believed to be interested in taking Spence off Tottenham’s hands this month and we do think regardless of whether they land Porro, Spence’s departure should be approved before the end of the month.
