Tottenham Agree £30m Deal to Sell Djed Spence to Inter Milan

Tottenham and Inter Milan have agreed a £30m deal for Djed Spence, with the England full-back given permission to travel to Italy for a medical as the two clubs worked out the final details of a transfer that ends his four-year spell at the club.

Sky Sports News reported the agreement includes a 10 per cent sell-on clause for Spurs, with a total package of £30m now reached between the two clubs. Inter had been searching for a new option at right wing-back and turned their attention to Spence after struggling to strike a deal for Al Ittihad’s Moussa Diaby.

Spence was a standout performer as England reached third place at this summer’s World Cup, but the reality at club level looked very different. Pedro Porro remains first choice at right-back, while Destiny Udogie, Andy Robertson, Souza and Ben Davies all give Tottenham options on the left. With those queues blocking his path, Spence was always likely to find opportunities limited at Spurs in the coming season.

A Long Road From Middlesbrough to the World Cup

Spence’s route to a World Cup semi-final squad and now a switch to Serie A began a long way from the bright lights of international tournaments. He started out in the Fulham academy before Middlesbrough picked him up as a 17-year-old in July 2018. His breakthrough came in December 2019, when he made his professional debut against Charlton, before scoring his first senior goal 19 days later against Huddersfield. That run of form earned him the EFL Young Player of the Month award.

He went on to make 70 appearances for Middlesbrough’s first team, but fell out of favour once Neil Warnock took charge. A season-long loan at Nottingham Forest in 2021/22 revived his career. Spence made 46 appearances and scored three goals as Forest won promotion to the Premier League through the Championship play-offs, a campaign that saw him named in both the EFL Championship Team of the Season and the PFA Championship Team of the Season.

That form persuaded Tottenham to sign him on a five-year deal worth up to £20m in the summer of 2022. The move did not work out as either side had hoped. Spence made only six appearances in his first season at Spurs before a loan to Stade Rennais in January 2023. A further loan followed at Leeds United from August 2023, where he made seven appearances, before he returned to Tottenham in January 2024.

Days later, Spence joined Genoa on loan, a six-month spell in Serie A that he enjoyed enough to make Italian football an appealing next step now that his time at Spurs is ending. He made 16 Serie A appearances for Genoa in the second half of that season, experience that will have counted in Inter’s thinking as they moved to sign him.

England Fans Fell for Him at the World Cup

Spence’s World Cup summer turned him from a fringe Tottenham player into one of the more unlikely fan favourites of England’s run to the last four. After a brilliant cameo off the bench against Norway, supporters Ben Cipolla and Dan Lucas wrote a song for him titled “Total Eclipse of Djed Spence,” a moment that captured how far his stock had risen among England fans over the course of the tournament.

Spence had three years left on his Tottenham contract, with an option for a further year, but is understood to be keen on the move to Inter having enjoyed his time in Italy with Genoa. Spurs signed him from Middlesbrough in a deal worth up to £20m in July 2022, meaning the fee now agreed with Inter represents a significant return on that initial outlay.

England’s tournament ended with a 6-4 win over France in the third-place play-off, a Bukayo Saka hat-trick headlining a match that produced the most goals in a World Cup game in 44 years. Spence’s part in that summer, coming off the bench and starting matches across a punishing schedule, is exactly the kind of tournament pedigree that persuaded Inter to move for him once their preferred targets fell through.

Sky Sports News’ Mark McAdam said: “A player that Spurs fans will say they have seen his brilliance in flashes. You saw his brilliance at the World Cup with England. They may also think it is frustrating. They paid £12.5m for him from Middlesbrough in 2022, a deal that Daniel Levy did. They are getting more than two times what they paid for him. But they will also say it doesn’t feel like a lot of money for a player who could be so key for us. Spurs have been preparing for this and have irons in the fire for his potential replacement.”

Inter’s Search for a Right Wing-Back

Inter’s move for Spence comes after the Serie A side spent much of the summer trying to strengthen their options at right wing-back without success in the market for Diaby. Spence offers something different to a like-for-like replacement: a versatile full-back capable of playing on either side, with the physical attributes and pace that made him such an effective outlet for England off the bench in the United States, Mexico and Canada this summer.

For Tottenham, the sale reflects the reality of a squad that has accumulated defensive options faster than first-team minutes can be shared around. Porro’s form at right-back has been consistent, and the left side is just as crowded, leaving a talented but squeezed Spence with little room to establish himself as a regular starter. Selling now, while his value is at a peak following his World Cup exposure, allows Spurs to recoup a healthy profit on a player who managed only a handful of Premier League appearances across his time at the club.

Spence’s departure also opens a route for Tottenham to bring in defensive reinforcements of their own before the transfer window closes. According to Sky Sports, the club have been preparing for this outcome and already have options lined up as a potential replacement, underlining that this was a deal Spurs were willing, rather than reluctant, to do once Inter’s interest firmed up.

What Comes Next

With the medical underway in Italy, the final paperwork is expected to be completed in the coming days, closing the book on a Tottenham career that never quite matched the promise Spence showed on loan at Forest and Genoa, or the level he reached wearing an England shirt this summer. The move also arrives with several weeks still to run before the summer transfer window shuts, giving both clubs time to complete any further business connected to the deal without the pressure of a looming deadline day scramble. For Inter, they gain a wing-back with genuine pace and World Cup pedigree at a fee that, while notable, reflects the premium clubs are prepared to pay for players who performed on the largest stage in the sport just weeks ago.

Spence’s ability to play on either flank adds a layer of tactical flexibility that many wing-backs cannot offer, a quality that carries real value in Serie A systems built around back fives and overlapping full-backs. Few players outside the game’s biggest names move for £30m off the back of a World Cup where they started only a handful of matches, underlining just how highly Spence’s combination of pace, energy and tournament exposure is now rated across Europe.

The deal also says something about the wider market for full-backs this summer, with clubs across the continent prepared to pay significant fees for players who can defend one on one and still contribute going forward. Spence, who turned 26 earlier this month, fits that profile closely, and Inter’s willingness to move quickly once talks advanced suggests they see him as a long-term solution rather than a short-term squad addition.

Spence’s next challenge will be turning World Cup form into consistent Serie A performances, in a league known for its tactical demands on full-backs and wing-backs. If he can do that, both club and player stand to benefit from a transfer that, on paper, offers Spence exactly what he lacked at Tottenham: a clear path into the team.

Part of a Busy Summer at Spurs

The Spence deal lands in one of Tottenham’s most active transfer windows in years. The club has already agreed the £34m sale of captain Cristian Romero to Atletico Madrid this month, and further defensive business is expected before the summer window shuts. Spurs head into the new Premier League season under Roberto De Zerbi, who took charge in April, with the club looking to reshape a defence that had grown top-heavy with options at both full-back positions.

That squad depth is precisely why Spence found himself squeezed out even with his World Cup form behind him. Selling a player at the peak of his value, while simultaneously freeing up space and a wage to reinvest elsewhere, is the kind of business Tottenham have leaned into this summer. For Spurs, letting Spence go now, rather than risking his value drifting as a fringe player again once the World Cup afterglow fades, represents a pragmatic piece of business on top of an already eventful summer of incomings and outgoings at the club.