Arsenal set for Tottenham transfer battle over £12m defender

Arsenal and Tottenham are not friends at the best of times and the outcry over the postponement of the North London Derby added fuel to a fire that’s been burning for well over 100 years.

Their rather hilarious statement in riposte felt more like a rallying call to their supporters since there was no factual basis to it and, if one felt the animosity would end there, then they’d be sorely mistaken.

It is transfer season. The season to read folly. Among the numerous links that include Arsenal’s name, the one in relation to Middlesbrough defender Djed Spence actially feels like one worth keeping an eye on.

The right-back, on loan at Nottingham Forest, put in a man of the match display against Mikel Arteta’s men as his temporary side secured a deserved 1-0 FA Cup win earlier in January, prompting universal calls from Arsenal supporters to at least look into his potential acquisition.

Arsenal set for Tottenham transfer battle over £12m rated Djed Spence as Premier League interest mounts in Nottingham Forest right-back

Links did indeed emerge with Italian duo Roma and Inter also keeping tabs, on a transfer that would cost in the region of £10m. Boro have a first choice option in that position and would be willing to sell Spence at the right price.

However, having played on loan already this campaign as well as with Boro, it means that while a club could secure his signature in January he wouldn’t be able to join his new employers until the summer.

That hasn’t deterred Arsenal, with the Evening Standard adding that their interest remains, and with both Calum Chambers and Ainsley Maitland-Niles set to leave at the end of the season there is a spot freed up at right-back. Cedric Soares may well be moved on as well.

Arteta isn’t the only one on the lookout for a right-back though, and it’s added that Tottenham are keen on signing the 21-year-old as well, prompting a classic ‘transfer tussle’.

In Spurs’ case it might actually be a slightly better fit for Spence, as much as we’re woe to admit it. Antonio Conte employs wing-backs in his system and under Steve Cooper at Forest that is the position that Spence operates in. He isn’t, however, cemented to that position, and has instead performed well there during Forest’s resurgence.

The latest updates do have add one difference to previous reporting, though, with Middlesbrough said to be wanting closer to £12m as opposed to the previously touted £10m. Given the Premier League interest in him, which includes Leeds United, it’s no wonder the Riverside outfit reckon they can squeeze a few more million out of his potential sale.