Inter Target Djed Spence as Dumfries Successor After €30m Deal

Inter’s long, stuttering search for a successor to Denzel Dumfries finally has a clear frontrunner. In Italy and England, the same name keeps surfacing with growing certainty: Djed Spence.

The Tottenham defender is now understood to be on the brink of a move to San Siro, with Inter and Spurs working on a deal worth around €30m plus add-ons. La Gazzetta dello Sport first pushed the story in Italy, Football Italia followed, and now The Athletic in the UK has backed up the numbers. The lines are converging.

Inter find their wing-back after false starts

Inter’s recruitment team have taken a few hits on this position. Dumfries’ move to Real Madrid left a gaping hole on the right, and the club thought they had their man when they moved for Atalanta talent Marco Palestra. Then Chelsea stepped in late and ripped up that script.

Anan Khalaili looked like the next solution, only for a failed medical with Union Saint-Gilloise to shut that door as well. Each time Inter thought they had their replacement, the plan collapsed.

Now the focus is on Spence, and this time the pieces appear to be falling into place.

The 26-year-old is keen on the move. All reports align on that point. Inter arrive as freshly crowned Serie A and Coppa Italia winners from the 2025-26 campaign, with another Champions League season ahead. For a player who has fought to re-establish himself at the top level, it is a powerful pull.

A versatile answer for Inzaghi

Spence brings something Simone Inzaghi values deeply: flexibility. He can operate on either flank, as a full-back or a wing-back, and that tactical elasticity matters in an Inter side that lives off its wide players.

He is not a stranger to Italian football either. Tottenham sent him to Genoa on loan from January to June 2024, a move that initially looked routine. He arrived as backup to Stefano Sabelli, nothing more than depth on the right.

Then he started forcing decisions.

Used increasingly on the left flank, Spence worked his way into the XI and ended that half-season with 16 competitive appearances. It was enough to show he could handle the tempo, the tactics, and the grind of Serie A.

Genoa had a €10m option to buy in June 2024. They passed. With Inter now circling at three times that figure plus bonuses, that choice will sting in Liguria.

From Genoa audition to San Siro stage

Spence turned 26 at the weekend, an age where a player either cements himself at the elite level or drifts into the shadows. Inter are betting he belongs in the first category.

For Tottenham, the proposed deal represents a chance to cash in on a player who has never fully settled in North London but has shown flashes of high-level potential elsewhere. For Inter, it is about more than numbers. It is about restoring balance to a side that leans heavily on its wide corridors, especially after losing a proven performer like Dumfries.

The Englishman has already walked out of Italian tunnels in Genoa. If this deal crosses the line, the next tunnel will be at San Siro, under brighter lights, with a title-winning crowd demanding a new engine on the flank.

Inter believe Djed Spence can be that engine. Now the market has to finish what the scouting started.