Djed Spence hits back as he opens up on Leeds United accusations and Elland Road struggles — YEP 8/3/24

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Djed Spence saw his loan with Leeds United from Tottenham Hotspur terminated in January

By Will Jackson

Former Leeds United loanee Djed Spence insists talk of his unprofessionalism at Elland Road has been 'blown out of proportion'. Spence joined the Whites last summer on a loan deal until the end of the current campaign in the hope of rediscovering some momentum in his career after struggling for game time in the Premier League.

However, after picking up an injury in the days following his debut for the Whites, Spence struggled to make his mark at Elland Road during the first half of the season. He returned to full fitness in time to help the Whites through the hectic festive period, but the decision was taken to cut his time with the club short in the opening days of the January transfer window.

Leeds never gave an official reason for pulling the plug on his loan deal, but there has been suggestions since that the full-back's performance levels, attitude and struggles with punctuality were all seen as concerns. Spence returned to Spurs, then, before almost immediately being used as a makeweight in the London club's deal to land Radu Dragusin from Genoa, joining the Serie A club on an initial loan until the end of the season.

Spence has started just two games under Alberto Gilardino, but he has taken the opportunity to speak out and open up about his Leeds United difficulties and the circumstances that led to his January exit.

“I don’t think that’s fair at all," Spence told the Athletic in response to questions of his unprofessionalism. "I don’t necessarily agree with what they said. But in football, this is how it is: you have to keep your head down, keep going and eventually prove people wrong. Some of it is a bit blown out of proportion. You can be late once and if you’re not playing, it’s a problem, and if you are playing, then it’s not a problem.”

On his time at Elland Road, he added: “I went there, things were going well, then I got injured. I got quite a bad injury to my knee, then I came back but I was still getting pain. I came back and was playing a bit but I was playing on the wrong side (at left-back). It wasn’t easy. It didn’t get the best out of me, everyone wants to play in their best position.”

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