Is Spence a good FPL option at £4.5m?
Djed Spence has finally completed his long anticipated move to Spurs. Official FPL have valued the defender at £4.5m. We assess whether this price makes Spence a good FPL option for the 2022/23 season.
Djed Spence had a fantastic season on loan at Nottingham Forrest last season. The defender returned two goals and five assists in the Championship last season as well as a further goal in the FA Cup. The right-back’s attacking threat, as well a defensive qualities, made him an attractive asset during this transfer window.
Spence in FPL
The defender has been priced a £4.5m in FPL. This is a full million cheaper than Spurs’ other new defender Perisic who is valued at £5.5m in the game. Spence will be competing with Matt Doherty and Emerson Royal. They are both valued, like Eric Dier and Ben Davies at £5.0m for the new season. Therefore at £4.5m Spence looks like a great budget rout into the Spurs defence. However, will he get regular starts?
When asked about the signing of Spence manager Conte stated:
Spence is an investment of the club. The club wanted to do it. I said, ‘OK, this player is young but he showed he can become a good, important player for us’. The club decided to buy him.’
Antonio Conte on Djed Spence
Conte’s suggestion that Spence was not his choice of signing is some what concerning for FPL managers.
Conte’s Wing Backs
The system that Conte likes his teams to play requires pacy wing backs, who make full use of the pitch. With both the Premier League as well as the Champions League to contest this year Conte will need to use his full squad depth.
It could be the wing backs who have the most rotation in the Spurs team. This could mean that even if Spence doesn’t start he gets minutes, especially with the new five substitute rule for the new season. Therefore he could still be a good option, even if he is not Conte’s first choice.
Other options at £4.5m
Whilst Spence may have some great potential upside in FPL there are other £4.5m defenders who are less likely to be rotated. For FPL managers who want move security of starts there are a number of £4.5m defenders who are likely to start most games for their sides. Some of the most attractive assets include:
- Takehiro Tomiyasu – Arsenal
- Ben White – Arsenal
- Tyrone Mings – Aston Villa
- All of the Brentford defenders
- Lewis Dunk – Brighton
- Tariq Lamptey – Brighton
- James Tarkowski – Everton
- James Justin – Leicester
- Fabian Schar – Newcastle
- Kyle Walker-Peters – Southampton
