
Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League • England
Next Tottenham transfer after Dragusin forged, as Romano reveals two new details about loan exit

Radu Dragusin and Djed Spence are swapping clubs
Djed Spence is all set to move in the opposite direction to Radu Dragusin, but Fabrizio Romano has revealed a significant compromise Tottenham have made with Genoa – as well as a crucial detail about his long-term future.
Spurs recently made Timo Werner their first signing of the January transfer window by bringing the former Chelsea striker back to the Premier League on loan from RB Leipzig, and Dragusin is due to become their next recruit.
Tottenham have outlasted competition from Bayern Munich for the centre-back, who has chosen to come to England after Genoa accepted bids by both clubs.
It recently emerged that as part of the Dragusin negotiations, Tottenham would be willing to give Spence to Genoa after his recent loan spell at Leeds United was cut short.
What’s more, it didn’t take long for Genoa to decide they would gladly welcome the former Middlesbrough man to Serie A for the first time in his career.
Now, on the day Dragusin is preparing to fly to London, Romano has confirmed Spence will complete his move to Genoa too.
It will be a loan deal initially, but one of Romano’s updates is that it will contain an option for Genoa to buy him at the end of the season.
The value of the transfer would be in the region of €10m (somewhere around £8.6m).
It is an option to buy, not an obligation, meaning it will be up to Genoa as to whether or not they want to keep Spence beyond this season.
In theory, they will be giving themselves as many opportunities to see if he would be worth it or not, since they only have one natural right-back at the moment for him to compete with.
Although it will be Genoa giving Spence his share of the action for the remainder of the season, Romano’s second update is that Tottenham will still be the ones paying him.
In fact, Spurs have committed to keeping up Spence’s salary in full over these next six months.
On the surface, it may seem like a sign of desperation as they attempt to get rid of him, but upon closer inspection, Romano has confirmed it was a condition related to their last offer for Dragusin.
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Tottenham are paying Genoa €25m initially for the Romania international. In addition, they could spend up to €5m in bonuses.
The payment of Spence’s salary is the third part of Tottenham’s bid for Dragusin, which may have added to its appeal for Genoa.
Some sources have estimated that Spence earns £1.3m per year from Tottenham, in which case their agreement with Genoa would save the Serie A club £650,000 (around €755,000 in their currency).
New start for Spence
The upcoming stint with Genoa will be Spence’s third loan away from Tottenham since they bought him just 18 months ago.
During his first six months, he fought for his place under Antonio Conte, a coach who never asked for Spence in the first place.
After making just six appearances, Spence was sent abroad by Tottenham in January 2023. He completed the first season of his five-year contract with Tottenham in France at Rennes.
Then, towards the end of the most recent summer transfer window, Spence – a former promotion winner with Nottingham Forest – dropped back down to the Championship with Leeds.
He only made seven appearances before his loan was terminated and Tottenham were tasked with finding a new destination for him.
Genoa will be his next club, where he will hope to finally find some stability.
Given that his spell with Forest was also a loan from Middlesbrough, remarkably only six of the last 69 appearances he has made in his career have come for a club that actually owns him.
If Genoa use him in 14 games or more, he would end up having played more matches out on loan than for his parent clubs by that stage of his career.
But as long as Genoa like what they see and can afford Tottenham’s fixed asking price, the presence of an option to buy in the latest deal could ultimately end his turbulent time as a loan player.
And at the age of 23, it is about time for the former England under-21 international to finally find some stability.