Djed Spence says Antonio Conte ‘wasn’t happy about anything.

After making a high-profile move to Tottenham in 2022, following a breakout season with Nottingham Forest, Djed Spence seemed like an ideal fit for Antonio Conte’s system, particularly due to his impressive performances as a wing-back.

However, from the very beginning, Conte made it clear that he wasn’t fully convinced by Spence. In fact, the Italian manager openly admitted that the 24-year-old was not his signing.

Conte explained to BBC Sport: "Spence is an investment of the club. The club wanted to do it. I said OK, this player is young but he showed he can become a good, important player for us. The club decided to buy him."

Fast forward to the present, and Tottenham still believes Spence has the potential to develop into a top-class full-back. Despite showing his quality this season, it’s been clear from the outset that his time at Spurs was not going to be easy under Conte.

Rio Ferdinand highlighted Spence’s confidence during an interview, where he discussed the player’s positive attitude with Joleon Lescott.

Given the strong performances he’s been putting in, Spence certainly has every reason to feel confident. Even Dejan Kulusevski has backed him to thrive at Tottenham in the future.

But under Antonio Conte, Spence has revealed that the Napoli boss “wasn’t happy about anything” regarding him when opening up on his struggles working alongside the former Tottenham manager.

The in-form full-back said on Rio Ferdinand: Presents: “Oh, yeah, most definitely. I felt like whatever I did, I couldn’t…that man wasn’t happy about anything, man. Honestly, yeah.”

“Even if you do the right things, ‘Did I do the right thing?’ because he’s not a really complimenting guy. I think it gets to a point where you don’t even need validation from a coach, you know if you’re doing well or not in your head. Of course, it’s nice to know that a manager…’Oh, you’ve done well today or you’re doing well’ but I think you get to a certain time where you know if you’re doing well or not. It’s just down to the manager if he wants to see it or not.”

Djed Spence admitted his confidence nosedived after being managed by Antonio Conte: “It wasn’t a nice feeling, of course. Especially, I was coming to the club on a high [from Nottingham Forest], I was confident, I was buzzing, I had a great season, just won promotion from my club and when I came in, I just ran into a brick wall really and yeah, I think, it shattered my confidence as well really, obviously, I’m young as well so it’s not nice to hear.”

“My agent at the time, he was saying to me, ‘No, don’t worry about this, we’ve clarified’…yeah, I know I was rubbish at the time but yeah, it wasn’t a nice thing really. I was even going into the club like, ‘What am I doing really?, you know what I mean?”

Djed Spence played only 43 minutes in total under Conte. he did not enjoy the experience but now, James Maddison stated Spence has been brilliant for Tottenham this season as he is one of their most important players.

Would you pick Djed Spence over Udogie?