Tottenham Hotspur fans knew that selling Djed Spence to Serie A champions Inter Milan would be a move that they would quickly regret, but just five games into the 2026/27 Premier League season, the move looks like an even more difficult pill to swallow than fans would have expected.
While Spence had a pretty poor 2025/26 season for Spurs, so did most of the team. And after a brilliant World Cup for the third place England national team in which he showed his value on a global scale, Spurs sold Spence because he wanted to leave and because they were given an offer they could not refuse financially in the context of past deals for fullbacks.
So the real issue was Spurs not signing Spence's replacement. Tottenham currently have only one right back in Pedro Porro , and he is injured again for about a month, having struggled for fitness to start the season, which anyone could have predicted after his grueling summer at the World Cup. They also only have Destiny Udogie and Andy Robertson at left back now after selling Spence and loaning Souza. Udogie is always injured, while Robertson has genuinely looked finish at the Premier League level over the past two seasons, even in 2024/25 when Liverpool actually won the league.
Tottenham Hotspur briefly showed interest in the right footed Neco Williams , who mostly starts at left back for Nottingham Forest . But Spurs did not push too hard, perhaps scared off by Evangelos Marinakis after he bullied the weak minded Tottenham front office into backing out of the obvious Morgan Gibbs-White move last summer.
Missing out on the Williams transfer is already looking as bad as the failed Gibbs-White approach in 2025, because Williams is having an incredible start to the 2026/27 season for Forest as one of the best fullbacks in European football. He is shining on both flanks and would be a starter for Tottenham at either left or right back right now, especially given the injuries to main men Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie.
Neco Williams is averaging 2.8 tackles, 1.8 fouls drawn, and 1.6 key passes per game for Nottingham Forest. He is winning possesion more than any Tottenham fullback, creating more chances, and progressing play better than all of them.
Signing Williams would have been preferable to Andy Robertson anyway, and signing him after selling Djed Spence was a no brainer. Now, Williams is balling out and making Spurs look like fools for not going harder for him.
This article was originally published on www.hotspurhq.com as The ideal Djed Spence replacement keeps making Tottenham look bad .
