Archie Gray has subtly proven Roberto De Zerbi right about Djed Spence

Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi made a few controversial decisions in the summer transfer window, and one of them was the decision to sell Djed Spence for roughly 30 million pounds to Serie A champions Inter Milan, which is actually one of the best ever fees for a fullback. But despite the fact that Spence was a backup and never could establish himself as a starter for Spurs last season ahead of Destiny Udogie on the left, let alone Pedro Porro on the right, many Spurs fans were miffed at losing a character like Spence, especially after his heroics for third place finishers England at the 2026 World Cup.

On top of all that, Tottenham did not sign a backup right back to replace Spence, and they went into the 2026/27 Premier League season without an actual backup right back for Porro, knowing that the Spanish international was coming off a grueling World Cup campaign for champions Spain.

While Porro has been out for more games than he has started this season, Archie Gray has stepped in as the default right back, and after a rough adjustment period, he has become legitimately one of the top starting right backs in the Premier League this season.

Tottenham are better off without Djed Spence

And watching how Gray is playing on the right side in the De Zerbi system, it's clear that the Italian manager was, once again, right in his unpopular decision. Obviously, there is no replacing Pedro Porro, and he proved at the World Cup that he is one of the top three right backs on the planet right now, even outplaying PSG maven Achraf Hakimi on the grand stage this summer.

But between Archie Gray and Djed Spence, the former, with his ability to read the game, come up inside and pass as an additional midfielder, is a much better fit for what Roberto De Zerbi wants to do technically and tactically.

Spence is a better defender and scrappier than Gray, and he's also faster. But Gray is plenty fast, too, and a scrappy, solid defender in his own right, as the 2026/27 Premier League season has proven, especially as the England youth international had come into his own with familiarity with the right back position.

So far this season for Inter Milan, Spence has started just one game and been pretty lousy when he has played for the Nerazzurri. His defending has been very mediocre in Serie A, while his passing has been sloppy and his creativity non existent. Spence has been much worse than Gray in his own position, and because he does not fit De Zerbi tactically, the Italian coach's decision has been fully justified.