Inter have reached agreement with Tottenham for Djed Spence, the England full-back who turned twenty-six three days ago. Press reports put the fixed fee at around 31.5 million euros, with bonuses taking the total to roughly 34 or 35 million, on a contract running to June 2031. It is the piece the Italian champions have been chasing since July, when Denzel Dumfries left Milan.
The deal at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Player | Djed Spence |
| Born | 9 August 2000 (26) |
| Height | 1.84 m |
| Position | Right-back, also a wing-back |
| From | Tottenham Hotspur |
| To | Inter |
| Reported fee | around 31.5 million plus bonuses |
| Reported contract | five years, to 30 June 2031 |
| International | England, 14 caps |
The player nobody wanted to keep
The interesting part of this deal is not the fee. It is the path that leads to it.
Spence joined Tottenham in July 2022 from Middlesbrough, after a loan season at Nottingham Forest worth thirty-nine appearances. The fee at the time, as reported in England, was 12.5 million pounds plus 7.5 million in add-ons. Then came the merry-go-round: on loan to Rennes, on loan to Leeds, on loan to Genoa, all between 2023 and 2024, for eight, seven and sixteen appearances respectively. Three clubs, three leagues, never a settled place.
Last season the picture changed: thirty Premier League appearances, ten in the Champions League, and a settled place in the national team. Of his fourteen England caps, eleven came in 2026, the year of a World Cup that England finished in third place.
Why Inter go this high
The hole opened in July. Dumfries joined Real Madrid and the right flank was left empty, in a system where that position is not an ordinary full-back but a wing-back who has to cover the whole line, defend in a back five and attack the box from wide.
The market for that profile is thin for a simple reason: players who do it well already belong to clubs that do not need to sell them. Tottenham, according to the reconstructions, started from a demand close to 45 million and came down over two days of talks. The gap between the opening price and the agreement says how much it matters, in August, that the player has already said yes.
What Inter are actually buying
Spence is not a build-up full-back, the kind who steps inside to become a third midfielder. He is a runner and a duel player, shaped by years of being asked to defend the width and attack it, often in the same passage of play.
In Inter’s system the right wing-back has mixed duties: when the team defends he drops into a back five, when it attacks he has to hold the width so the inside midfielder can work in the half-space. Those two jobs only coexist in a player with the legs for ninety minutes at that intensity, and that is exactly the quality that took Spence from serial loans to the national team.
What is left to find out
Two questions stay open. The first is adaptation: Italian football asks that role for positional readings the Premier League does not, and one season as a regular starter is a short résumé. The second is the price: 31.5 million for a player who was still going out on loan in 2024 means the market is paying for the most recent season, not for the career.
If the trajectory of the last twelve months holds, the fee will age well. If last year was the peak rather than the start, it will be another reminder of how expensive it is to buy a player at the exact moment everyone has noticed him.
Sources: official club communications, Italian and English sports press, public career archives. Transfer fees and wages are press reports and should be read as estimates.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Djed Spence costing Inter?
Press reports put the fixed fee at around 31.5 million euros, with bonuses that would take the total to roughly 34 or 35 million. These are press figures, not official contractual terms.
Who is Djed Spence?
An England full-back born on 9 August 2000, 1.84 metres tall, who plays on the right either as a full-back or as a wing-back. He came through Fulham and Middlesbrough, joined Tottenham in July 2022 and has fourteen senior caps.
Why do Inter need a right-back?
Because Denzel Dumfries joined Real Madrid in July. The right flank was left uncovered and the club spent the summer looking for a solution.
What contract would Spence sign?
Reports describe a five-year deal until 30 June 2031, with wages said to be around three million euros net per season. A medical was expected in the hours after the agreement.
What kind of season did Spence have in 2025-26?
Thirty Premier League appearances and ten in the Champions League for Tottenham, followed by the World Cup with England, who finished the tournament in third place.
