Transfer News: Chelsea have entered the race to sign Championship wonderkid Djed Spence. (Image: Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
According to The Athletic (subscription required), Chelsea enquired about Djed Spence earlier in the summer. This comes after the youngster completed a move to Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.
The report claims that Chelsea had made an enquiry about the 21-year-old and viewed him as a possible understudy for Reece James, but their interest did not develop into anything concrete. Spurs are said to have signed the Englishman for a deal worth £20 million including add-ons.
Spence was phenomenal on loan at Nottingham Forest last season. The 21-year-old made a total of 50 appearances for the Forest in all competitions and scored three goals while assisting five more in the process. He played a pivotal role as Forest gained promotion to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs.
If the report is true, this will come as a blow to Thomas Tuchel. Spence would have made a fantastic addition to the roster and would have helped increase the depth and competition in the squad. A wing-back, he is already accustomed to playing in a back-three at Forest.
With the future of Cesar Azpilicueta up in the air, Spence would have been an ideal signing for the Blues. The Chelsea captain is tipped to make a move to Barcelona this summer, with the two clubs in talks with each other.
This would then leave James as the only right-back in the team. If Tuchel had signed Spence, Azpilicueta could have been allowed to leave. But now with no backup, it could become very difficult for the Spaniard to leave the club. Spence could have been an excellent back-up to James, or maybe could have replaced him in the first team.
It will be interesting to see whom Tuchel brings in as a backup for James this summer. Jules Kounde and Josko Gvardiol are linked with a move to Stamford Bridge but it remains to be seen though if any new faces will arrive at the Bridge this summer.
Chelsea will hope that it does not come back to haunt them after missing out on Spence. The Blues fans would have loved it if their club had swooped in for Spence and stolen him from their arch-rivals Tottenham.
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