Nottingham Forest promotion hero Djed Spence joined Rennes from Tottenham in January. On Sunday, he was handed a scathing verdict by the French media just days after a catalogue of errors in the Europa League.
It’s been tough for Spence since leaving the Reds. Forest chose not to sign him permanently, with the player holding a desire to sign for Tottenham who were first interested in January 2022.
The 22-year-old made a £20 million move to Spurs prior to the 2022/23 campaign getting underway. Right away, Antonio Conte claimed it was the club that wanted him and that he’d be a player for the future.
He made just six appearances during the first half of the campaign. For a player who was instrumental at Forest last season that simply wasn’t enough and he opted to join Rennes on loan.
Things don’t appear to be going according to plan just yet. On Sunday, Rennes won 2-0 but Spence was still awarded a 3/10 for his performance and earned a scathing appraisal.
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Stade Rennais Online claimed: “The negative point of this victory is the defensive frailties of the Englishman, completely dropped to the marking all the match. Offensively more visible, his ball recovery led to 2-0. Technical and placement errors and a shambles for the rest.”
Forest promotion hero Spence handed scathing assessment
In midweek, Spence made his first outing in the Europa League. Rennes were beaten by Shakhtar Donetsk and certain media outlets called the ex-Forest man ‘catastrophic’ for his performance.
Clearly, it was always going to take some time for Spence to get going. He’s spent six months playing very little football and his confidence will have taken a knock on the back of that.
At Forest, the player was brilliant. He was a key part of Steve Cooper’s team that won promotion; with Spence making 46 appearances in all competitions for the Reds.
The youngster hasn’t become a bad player overnight. He will, however, hope to quickly park his early Rennes performances and begin to show the fan base exactly what he’s capable of.