England are through to the semi-finals of the World Cup, and it was quite the night for Djed Spence amid transfer interest from Everton.
The Three Lions will face Argentina in the last four, after they beat Switzerland in the early hours of Sunday morning.
After watching him for England vs Croatia, I’m convinced he’d be the perfect right-back signing this summer! 🔥
It wasn’t pretty from England, who had Jude Bellingham to thank again for a remarkable performance.
It took extra time for England to get their noses ahead, with Bellingham scoring the second of his two goals after goalkeeper Orjan Nyland found a shot from Morgan Rogers too hot to handle.
Thomas Tuchel deserves credit for his substitutions – and Djed Spence had a particularly good showing in Miami.
Djed Spence could cost Everton a pretty penny
Last night, Djed Spence started on the bench, but entered the action in the 86th minute to replace Nico O’Reilly.
It has been a bit of a mixed tournament so far for Spence, and plenty were critical of him against DR Congo.
But he was good against Mexico, and last night his energy against Norway was important for England.
Spence’s hassling and endeavour had Norway players on edge, and there was a moment when he made a lengthy sprint to charge down goalkeeper Nyland and almost scored by blocking the attempted clearance.
Spence then thought he’d won England a penalty in extra-time, dribbling the ball into the box before going down under a clumsy challenge. The referee did initially give a spot-kick, but then reversed his decision after going to the pitchside monitor.
Statistically, he was strong as well. As per Sofascore, he won 4/5 of his duels, made two tackles and completed 12/14 (86%) passes. In total, he made seven defensive actions – the joint-most of any England player across the whole match.
It was such a positive cameo, and the fact it came at this particular stage may not be good news for Everton.
Everton have been showing interest in Spence as a potential signing this summer.
The Toffees are crying out for a new right-back and also need another option to Vitalii Mykolenko, and Spence being able to play on both sides appeals.
He may struggle a bit defensively at times, but Spence has clearly shown this summer that he can be a threat from full-back.
And Spurs, who have been spending lavishly in this transfer window, will surely now try to capitalise.
There’s been some talk of Everton being willing to offer around £25 million for Spence. Surely any bid near that figure would now be rejected immediately.
But there is also the notion that Roberto De Zerbi is actually quite the fan of Spence, and that Spurs may now be less willing to actually sell the player.
Either way, Everton are not going to have it easy luring him to Hill Dickinson, and getting him for a reasonable fee now seems highly unlikely.
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