Djed Spence: Liverpool's Potential Full-Back Solution

Liverpool’s summer rebuild has been framed almost entirely around one question: who follows Mohamed Salah on that right flank? Quietly, another issue has been growing in the background. Full-back. Both sides of the pitch. And that is where an unexpected name has muscled into the conversation – Djed Spence.

A World Cup that changed the conversation

Six weeks ago, the idea of Liverpool moving for Spence would have been laughed away. Lewis Steele, Liverpool reporter for the Daily Mail, admits he was among the sceptics. On Anfield Index’s Media Matters, he was blunt about it.

If you’d asked him before the World Cup, Spence wasn’t anywhere near a realistic Liverpool target. Now? His tune has changed.

Spence’s performances for England in North America have forced a rethink across the continent. He has been one of Gareth Southgate’s standout players at the tournament, and Steele went as far as to call him England’s best player in the semi-final against Argentina. That is the sort of display that makes recruitment departments rewind the tape and look again.

Tottenham, who have never truly unlocked the full-back they bought from Middlesbrough, are ready to listen. Inter Milan are seen as frontrunners. Yet Liverpool and Newcastle have been name-checked as clubs in the mix, with TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey reporting both are monitoring the situation.

Why Spence fits Liverpool’s puzzle

Strip away the noise and the logic is easy to see from Liverpool’s side.

Andoni Iraola needs full-backs. Not just bodies, but players who can live on either flank, press high, and survive in big spaces. The left side is already flagged as a concern. Milos Kerkez is the emerging option, Kostas Tsimikas is back from his loan at Roma and will be assessed in pre-season, but there is no escaping the sense that Liverpool are one injury away from a problem.

On the right, the picture is not much clearer. Hence Steele’s simple assessment: “I think they’re a left back short. I think they’re a right back short.”

Spence ticks that box. He can operate on both sides, a trait that immediately appeals to a coach like Iraola who demands flexibility from his defenders. In a squad that has to navigate a long season, multiple competitions and inevitable injuries, a two-footed full-back who can switch flanks without drama is gold dust.

That is why Steele, despite his initial reservations, now sees the football logic clearly. “It does make a lot of sense,” he said. The World Cup has altered the perception of Spence from a stalled Tottenham project to a 25-year-old international defender playing the best football of his career.

Interest, logic… but no concrete move

For all the tactical fit and glowing World Cup reviews, there is a hard line in Steele’s reporting: he has not heard of concrete Liverpool moves for Spence.

“I’ve not heard anything really to suggest that Liverpool are going to make a move for him,” he admitted. The admiration is there. The rationale is there. The bid, so far, is not.

That is the tension around this story. Steele can see exactly why Liverpool might step up their interest, especially off the back of that semi-final against Argentina. He even concedes that “it would make an awful lot of sense if they were to step it up.” But the caveat follows immediately: there is nothing yet to indicate they actually will.

So, for now, Spence sits in that familiar summer limbo. A player whose profile fits, whose name is being discussed, but whose future is still being dictated more by speculation than by fax machines and medicals.

The price of versatility

Then comes the money. Tottenham are not about to let a rejuvenated England international go on the cheap.

Spurs are understood to want between £30–40 million for Spence, a figure naturally inflated by his World Cup form and his status as a full international. Inter Milan’s interest only strengthens their hand.

Liverpool, under Iraola, have several plates spinning. The budget must cover Salah’s long-term replacement, at least one wide forward option and, if possible, full-back reinforcements. Spending up to £40 million on a player who might start the season as cover for Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong is a serious call, not a casual add-on.

That is the crux of it. Does Spence come in as a starter, or as a high-end squad player? And how much is that worth to Liverpool at this stage of their rebuild?

Other fires burning at Anfield

While Spence’s name circles the rumour mill, Liverpool’s recruitment team are already deep into other negotiations.

Bradley Barcola has emerged as one of the headline pursuits, with Steele describing that chase as potentially the “story of the summer.” Multiple sources are feeding updates on that front, underlining how heavily Liverpool are investing time and energy into their attacking reshuffle.

One thing that will not be happening is a deal involving Cody Gakpo heading to Tottenham. Any such talk has been cooled by a significant update on the Dutchman’s future, shutting down the prospect of a Gakpo twist in the Spurs–Liverpool relationship this summer.

So the picture is clear, even if the outcome is not. Liverpool want full-backs. Spence is available. His World Cup has changed his standing. The numbers are high, the interest is real but not yet concrete, and the clock is ticking towards the September 1 deadline.

At some point, Iraola and Liverpool’s hierarchy must decide: is Djed Spence just a clever fit on paper, or the kind of decisive signing that shapes the edges of a title-chasing squad?