Inter Milan Completes £30m Signing of Djed Spence from Tottenham

Inter Milan have agreed a £30m deal to sign England defender Djed Spence from Tottenham, sealing a move that suits all parties but still leaves a nagging sense of “what if” in north London.

The agreement, understood to include a 10 per cent sell-on clause, allows the full-back to complete his switch after he was given permission to travel to Italy for a medical while talks were ongoing. Those talks are now done. The total package is in place. Spence is heading back to Serie A.

Inter’s new right flank solution

Inter have been hunting for a new right wing-back and had pushed to land Al Ittihad’s Moussa Diaby. That pursuit stalled. The focus shifted. Spence quickly became the solution.

The 24-year-old arrives off the back of an impressive summer with England, where he was one of the standout performers in their run to third place at the World Cup. His form on the international stage only underlined what has long been obvious: there is a serious player there when the stage and the trust are right.

Inter will believe they can be the club to unlock that consistently.

Spurs’ crowded full-back picture

At Tottenham, that pathway was blocked. Pedro Porro has nailed down the right-back slot, while Destiny Udogie, Andy Robertson, Souza and Ben Davies all offer options on the left. Minutes for Spence were always going to be scarce.

Spurs signed him from Middlesbrough in July 2022 in a deal worth up to £20m, a move driven by chairman Daniel Levy and viewed then as a signing for both present and future. Two years on, Spurs are cashing in.

They had Spence tied down: three years left on his contract, plus an option for a further year. Yet the player is keen on the move, buoyed by a positive six-month loan spell at Genoa from January 2024 that reintroduced him to Italian football and reminded Serie A what he can offer.

For Inter, that loan stint is a useful reference point. For Spence, it’s proof he can adapt and thrive away from England.

Profit, frustration and the next step for Spurs

From Tottenham’s perspective, the numbers make sense. As Sky Sports News’ Mark McAdam points out, they paid £12.5m to Middlesbrough in 2022 and are now set to receive more than double that fee.

Financially, it’s smart business. Emotionally, it’s more complicated.

Spurs fans have only seen flashes of the player who lit up the World Cup and showed glimpses of that same level in brief spells for the club. The feeling lingers that a potentially key player is leaving before he truly had the chance to establish himself in north London.

Tottenham, though, have not been caught cold. McAdam says the club have “irons in the fire” as they line up potential replacements on the flanks, preparing for life after Spence even before this agreement with Inter was finalised.

Spence now gets the platform he craved, at a club built on adventurous wing-backs and European ambition. Tottenham bank a profit and reset their defensive options.

The only question left is whether, in a few years’ time, that 10 per cent sell-on clause looks like a smart add-on—or a reminder of a talent that truly blossomed somewhere else.