Journalist Alasdair Gold has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence is being targeted by a number of Premier League sides ahead of a January loan.

What’s the word?

The 22-year-old wingback arrived at Spurs last summer with big expectations after leaving Middlesbrough for a £20m fee. Since then, however, things have not gone to plan.

Indeed, Spence is yet to start even once for Spurs in across all competitions, seemingly failing to win the trust of manager Antonio Conte with his efforts on the training pitch.

As a result, it looks as though the youngster will be sent out on loan this January with Premier League sides such as Crystal Palace, Southampton and West Ham chasing the player, as well as Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen.

Indeed, that is according to Gold, who explained in a new article for football.london: "Tottenham will have to move right wing-backs out the door if they are to accommodate a fourth player in the position.

"Emerson Royal would have to be convinced his game time would be minimal [at Spurs] if he is to consider a move with clubs in Spain and Italy considering him while there is interest in Djed Spence from Bayer Leverkusen and Premier League clubs including Crystal Palace, Southampton and West Ham."

Time for a change

Spurs' possible need to shift a right-back this winter relates to the fact that they are heavily linked with a transfer for Sporting Lisbon ace Pedro Porro.

Should he arrive, Spence would potentially be fourth on the list of options for Conte in that part of the field, behind Emerson Royal and Matt Doherty as well as the new man.

Indeed, the wingback has played a measly 41 minutes of football spread across just six senior outings at Tottenham so far, and was not even trusted to start in the domestic cup competitions.

His last Premier League outing came against Aston Villa as he played ten minutes in the 2-0 defeat on New Year's Day. He failed to impress, however, picking up a 6.2 rating on SofaScore, losing the ball four times, failing with two attempted ground duels and completing just two out of four passes.

Conte has not played him in the league since and so it does look as though a loan is likely, regardless of what happens with Porro.