Diop Tehuti Djed-Hotep Spence (born 9 August 2000) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

club

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine departm ...

, on loan from

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

Early life

Spence is the younger brother of actress Karla-Simone Spence. He was born in England and is of Jamaican descent.

Club career

Middlesbrough

Spence signed for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on 1 July 2018, having previously been with Fulham's academy. He made his debut for Middlesbrough in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

on 14 August 2018, appearing as a substitute versus

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place ...

. Spence made his league debut for Middlesbrough in a 1–0 win over Charlton Athletic on 7 December 2019, scoring his first league goal in a 1–0 win against Huddersfield Town on 26 December 2019. On 11 January 2020 Spence won EFL Young Player of The Month, following his league debut, first goal and three clean sheets.

Loan to Nottingham Forest

On 1 September 2021, it was announced Spence would join

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. He scored his first goal for Forest in a 3-0 win over

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on 2 October. Spence impressed in

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

victories over

clubs

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

, scoring the fourth in a 4–1 victory over the latter. Spence was awarded the

EFL Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Originally named the Football ...

award for March 2022 as well as being nominated for the Goal of the Month award following his long range strike against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...

which he was ultimately awarded. Having also been nominated for the Championship Young Player of the Season, Spence made it a hat-trick of awards for March 2022 when he won the EFL Young Player of the Month award for the second time in his career. Spence played a vital role in Nottingham Forest's promotion winning side, and was featured in both the EFL Championship Team of the Season and the PFA Championship team of the season.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 19 July 2022,

announced the signing of Spence on a five-year deal, for a reported fee of £20 million. He made his Tottenham debut on 29 August, coming on as a late substitute in a 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest.

Loan to Rennes

On 31 January 2023, Spence joined

side

on a loan until the end of the season.

International career

In March 2022, Spence earned a first international call up to the

England Under-21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team. This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the cale ...

squad for the upcoming Under-21 European Championship Qualifying matches against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none ( Latin)"United virtue is str ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

. He made his debut as a substitute during a 3-0 victory away to the latter on 29 March 2022.

Style of play

Spence primarily plays as a right-back, and is known for his pace and dribbling ability. He has been praised by the likes of

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arse ...

, who described him as "combative, technical, swashbuckling", and

Wes Morgan Westley Nathan Morgan (born 21 January 1984) is a former professional footballer who made over 750 professional appearances as a defender for Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and the Jamaican national team, as well as a brief loan spell at K ...

, who compared him to a Rolls-Royce.

Career statistics

Honours

Nottingham Forest *

EFL Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeyp ...

Individual *

EFL Young Player of the Month The EFL Young Player of the Month is an award for young players in all three divisions of the English Football League. To be eligible players must be under-21 or turn 21 during the current season. It was first awarded in December 2009. Victor Mo ...

: December 2019, March 2022 *

: March 2022 * EFL Championship Goal of the Month: March 2022 * EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2021–22 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 2021–22 Championship

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Djed Living people 2000 births Association football fullbacks Black British sportspeople English footballers English Football League players English sportspeople of Jamaican descent English people of Kenyan descent Footballers from Greater London Middlesbrough F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Stade Rennais F.C. players Premier League players Ligue 1 players Expatriate footballers in France English expatriate sportspeople in France