‘Best player’: French media react to Djed Spence’s Rennes debut after Tottenham loan exit

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Djed Spence made his Rennes debut against Lille on Saturday and the Tottenham Hotspur ace left the French media impressed.

Tottenham really shuffled their right wing back options in the final stages of the January window.

In came Pedro Porro from Sporting after a real saga ahead of the transfer deadline.

That meant Tottenham had to shift a couple of right wing backs out of the club, with Matt Doherty released before joining Atletico Madrid.

Djed Spence moved on too, securing a loan move to France with Rennes.

The summer signing from Middlesbrough hadn’t even started a league game for Tottenham in the first half of the season.

Spence needs regular game time and the move to Rennes – joining another Tottenham loanee in Joe Rodon – made perfect sense.

French media impressed with Tottenham talent Djed Spence

Spence started as a right back in a 4-4-2 for Rennes, joining Rodon in the back line.

When Amine Gouiri fired Rennes in front inside a minute, Spence was probably expecting a dream debut.

That’s as good as it got though as Lille ran out 3-1 winners in a comfortable victory for the visitors.

Rennes may have leaked three goals but Spence still managed to impress the French media.

But Football Club gave Spence a seven out of 10 rating, hailing him as he ‘showed all his qualities as a counter-attacker’.

They felt that Spence was ‘powerful’ and ‘interesting offensively’, hailing him as the best player for Rennes on the night.

Stade Rennais Online went with a 5.5 rating for Spence, which was still the second-highest in the Rennes team, praising him for his speed and dribbling but questioning his defensive ability.

Made In Foot gave Spence a 6/10, with only goalscorer Gouiri ranking higher than the Tottenham ace.

The hope is that Spence can smooth out some of his defensive issues in France whilst continuing to be a major threat going forward.

This sounds like an encouraging start for Spence despite the defeat, and Rennes will be looking for consistent displays before his return to Spurs in the summer.