Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are both thought to have made contact over a potential deal to sign Middlesbrough defender Djed Spence this summer.
That’s according to The Mirror (13/03, p68), who claim that Arsenal and Tottenham have both asked about signing Spence at the end of the season.
Middlesbrough will allegedly demand a minimum of £10million for Spence, seemingly believing that there will be a scramble for his signature.
Bayern Munich are every interested in signing Spence too, whilst Manchester City are also believed to be keen having scouted Spence of late.
Spence, 21, has been compared to Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka having been hailed by Neil Warnock.
Warnock didn’t have plans for Spence this season and sanctioned a loan move to Nottingham Forest, where the defender has excelled.
Playing as a right back or right wing back under Steve Cooper, Spence has been shining at the City Ground.
Boro have seen another right wing back shine in Isaiah Jones, which means selling Spence may not be such a difficult decision this summer.
Arsenal would be seeking a more attack-minded option to compete with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Spence absolutely fits that bill.
Tottenham have seen Matt Doherty turn in some strong performances of late, but Emerson Royal has struggled and Spence may be seen as the long-term solution.
We would actually make Bayern favourites at this point, but if it came down to Arsenal and Tottenham, where would Spence go?
There may be more chance of first-team football at Tottenham as things stand, with their right wing back position in flux whereas Tomiyasu has starred at Arsenal.
Winning this race would be great for Tottenham, but beating both Bayern and Arsenal – as well as possibly Manchester City – sounds like a difficult task.
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