Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly keeping a close track on the exciting Nottingham Forest duo Brennan Johnson and Djed Spence.
According to Football London journalist Alasdair Gold, Tottenham’s technical director Fabio Paratici had reportedly planned to travel to the City Ground on a scouting mission to watch Nottingham Forest duo Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson a day after Tottenham’s FA Cup fourth round success over Brighton & Hove Albion. And if the Italian was in attendance on Sunday afternoon, the trip would certainly have been worthwhile.
Spence and Johnson both starred in Forest’s FA Cup fourth-round victory over Leicester City last weekend. In fact, both players registered their name on the scoresheet with well-taken goals as Forest ran riot in a 4-1 triumph to dump the FA Cup holders out of the competition.
Steve Cooper’s men delivered yet another spectacular performance in what was their second consecutive Premier League scalp, and they will be confident of their prospects of promotion from the Championship. They will now face the challenge of holding on to some of their most valuable assets in the summer, with Tottenham monitoring both Johnson and Spence.
Both players attracted interest from multiple Premier League clubs during the January transfer window, and they have continued to draw attention as the Reds advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup, upsetting 14-time winners Arsenal and holders Leicester City along the way. Forest knocked back a £15 million bid for Johnson from Brentford in January, while Tottenham saw a couple of bids rejected for Djed Spence by his parent club Middlesbrough.
Spence is currently on loan with Nottingham Forest until the end of the season and has been a revelation, putting in several eye-catching performances. The versatile wing-back has been a mainstay in the starting XI and has made 27 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring one goal while assisting twice in the process.
Tottenham could do with strengthening the right side of the defence, with Antonio Conte keen on bringing competition for right wing-back Emerson Royal. Matt Doherty has failed to impress, while the Lilywhites also missed out on their prime target to fill in at right wing-back in Adama Traore, who instead joined Barcelona from Wolves.
Spence has performed admirably in that role for Forest this season and, at the age of just 21, has loads of potential. The youngster’s parent club Middlesbrough are bracing themselves for big offers at the close of the season, given that they had no plans to integrate Spence in their squad.
As for the rumoured interest in Johnson, Spurs offloaded Tanguy Ndombele and Dele Alli in January and could be looking to reinforce their midfield in the summer. Johnson has sparkled in Forest’s push for promotion and contributed with 12 goal involvements after 29 Championship games. The 20-year-old is contracted at City Ground until 2023, and it would take a hefty amount to prise the attacking midfielder from Forest.