Liverpool's Full-Back Dilemma: Is Djed Spence the Answer?
Liverpool’s summer rebuild has been framed almost entirely through one question: who comes after Mohamed Salah? Yet while the spotlight swings towards the forward line, another issue quietly nags away at the back of Andoni Iraola’s mind.
Liverpool are short of full-backs. On both sides.
Milos Kerkez needs genuine competition on the left. Kostas Tsimikas is back from his loan at Roma and will be given a look in pre-season, but his long-term role is unclear as Iraola assesses every inch of his squad before the window closes on September 1. On the right, there is a similar sense of thin cover behind the first-choice options.
Into that context steps a name that, until very recently, would have raised eyebrows on Merseyside: Djed Spence.
World Cup form changes the conversation
TEAMtalk’s Graeme Bailey reported on July 14 that Liverpool and Newcastle are among the clubs in the frame for the Tottenham and England defender, with Spurs ready to sanction a sale. Inter Milan are currently seen as the frontrunners, but Spence’s performances for England at the World Cup in North America have shifted how he is viewed across Europe.
The Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele admits he was one of those who needed convincing. Speaking on Anfield Index’s Media Matters, he was blunt about his earlier doubts.
“If you’d asked me this six weeks ago, I probably would have laughed you out of town because I didn’t really rate Djed Spence too highly at all,” he said.
Then came the World Cup. Spence has been one of England’s standout players at the tournament, and Steele was unequivocal about his display in the semi-final.
“He’s done brilliantly at the World Cup. I thought he was England’s best player last night [vs Argentina in the semi-finals].”
That kind of form forces clubs to re-run their calculations. It also forces journalists who watch Liverpool closely to rethink what makes sense for Iraola’s squad.
A profile that fits what Liverpool actually need
Steele stops short of claiming Liverpool are actively moving for Spence. He hasn’t heard that. But he can see exactly why the idea refuses to go away.
“It does make a lot of sense,” he explained. “He can play on the right and the left, which is exactly what Liverpool need. I think they’re a left back short. I think they’re a right back short.”
That versatility is the key. Under Iraola, full-backs are unlikely to be simple touchline-huggers. They will be asked to press, to break lines, to flip sides if needed, and to cope with high-intensity football every three days. A player comfortable on both flanks, and now battle-tested at a World Cup, naturally appeals on a tactical level.
Spence, 25 and approaching his peak years, offers something else Liverpool’s recruitment department traditionally likes: a player whose value could still rise, but who is already proven at a high level.
Interest, logic… but no concrete move
For all the tactical logic, Steele is clear on one point: there is no firm indication yet that Liverpool are ready to pull the trigger.
“I’ve not heard anything really to suggest that Liverpool are going to make a move for him,” he admitted.
The door isn’t closed, though. If anything, his tone hinted at a move that would be easy to justify if Liverpool did decide to accelerate.
“It would make an awful lot of sense if they were to step it up. I haven’t had anything to suggest they will just yet.”
That “just yet” is doing a lot of work. Liverpool have other plates spinning this summer, and their full-back situation is tied to internal decisions on Kerkez, Tsimikas and Jeremie Frimpong’s role in the wider structure. Spence, for now, sits in that intriguing middle ground: not an active target, but a player whose profile fits so neatly that his name will keep resurfacing.
The price of flexibility
Tottenham, for their part, know what they have. With Spence’s World Cup performances for the Three Lions fresh in everyone’s mind, Spurs are understood to be seeking between £30 million and £40 million.
That figure is where the debate starts to sharpen. Would Liverpool really commit that sort of money on a player who, at least initially, might be seen as cover for Kerkez and Frimpong rather than an undisputed starter?
The club has paid big for depth before, but usually when the player is seen as a near-certain long-term starter. Spence would arrive into a crowded, evolving picture, and Liverpool’s hierarchy will be wary of overloading one area while other positions still need attention.
A busy summer beyond Spence
While the Spence situation simmers in the background, Liverpool’s recruitment story is being pulled in other directions. Steele also touched on the pursuit of Bradley Barcola, a saga he believes is poised to become the “story of the summer” around Anfield, with multiple sources feeding into an increasingly complex chase.
What is clear is that there will be no swap business between Liverpool and Spurs involving Cody Gakpo. Any notion of the Dutchman being used as a makeweight has been shut down by a significant update on his future, leaving that door firmly closed.
So the Spence question lingers on its own merits. A World Cup star, a Premier League-ready full-back, a player who can operate on both sides and plug two gaps at once. The football logic is obvious. The financial and strategic call is less straightforward.
Liverpool have built an era-defining side by trusting their recruitment instincts at exactly the right moments. The only issue now is whether Djed Spence becomes one of those moments, or just the transfer link that made too much sense to ever quite happen.
