Spurs have been given the perfect excuse to finally sell their £80m star

The topsy-turvey nature of Tottenham Hotspur’s season continued yesterday evening.

Following their disappointing Europa League draw against Rangers on Thursday night, Ange Postecoglou’s side bounced back with an emphatic 5-0 win over Southampton in the Premier League.

The North Londoners scored within the first minute and were three up within a quarter of an hour, showing the rest of the league just how good they can be when things go their way.

Moreover, one of the team’s best players at St Mary’s may have just given the club an excuse to ship off one of their recent underperformers for a colossal sum.

Spurs’ surprise starter

So, the player in question, who shone at St Marys, is English right-back Djed Spence.

The former Middlesbrough gem first joined Spurs in the summer of 2022 for around £20m, but over the next couple of years, was sent on loan to the Championship, Ligue 1 and Serie A.

At one point this season, it looked like the 24-year-old’s time in N17 was running out as he wasn’t registered in the club’s Europa League squad, but after some cameo appearances, he finally made his first start of the campaign against the Saints and more than took his opportunity.

The “swashbuckling” full-back, as dubbed by Ian Wright, was solid in defence and decisive in attack, providing the assist for James Maddison’s opener and playing his part in the club’s second and fifth goals as well.

Unsurprisingly, the 6 foot ace impressed the watching press, with Spurs writer Alasdair Gold awarding him an 8/10 match rating at full-time and describing his display as ‘spectacular.’

Spence was so brilliant that he may well have just given the club an excuse to sell one of his rivals, who’s been linked with an expensive exit for some time now.

The Spurs ace Ange could sell

Now, given the position Spence started in yesterday, it should come as no surprise that the player we are talking about is Pedro Porro.

The Spanish full-back joined the club for around £40m under the stewardship of former manager Antonio Conte but remained the first choice in his position following the arrival of Postecoglou, and given his output, it’s easy to understand why.

For example, in 74 appearances for the club to date, the 25-year-old has scored nine goals and provided 13 assists, which equates to an impressive average of a goal involvement every 3.36 games.

Unsurprisingly, this attacking skill has seen the former Sporting CP star linked to some of the most successful clubs around, such as Spanish behemoths Real Madrid and the reigning champions of England, Manchester City.

However, according to reports from October of this year, the Lilywhites value the right-back at a mammoth £80m, which may well be a price they would be even happier to sell at following Spence’s excellent display yesterday evening.

Moreover, for as undeniably brilliant as the “titanic” full-back is going forward, dubbed by The Athletic’s former Spurs correspondent Charlie Eccleshare, he’s caused Postecoglou some problems in defence this season.

For example, you only have to look back at Thursday night’s draw, and it was his runner who scored Rangers’ goal, which the manager admonished him for on the pitch at full-time.

Ultimately, while Porro is an incredible talent, he has his weaknesses, and with Spence seemingly ready to step in, it might be a smart idea for Daniel Levy and Co to try and get £80m for him next year.