Former Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock has explained why he decided to loan Djed Spence out to Nottingham Forest last summer.
The full-back arrived at the City Ground on a season-long loan from the Riverside on deadline day last year. He has gone on to become a key player in Steve Cooper’s side as they aim to make it back to the Premier League, either automatically or via the play-offs.
His performances have led to speculation that Premier League clubs are looking at him ahead of the summer window. As many as 14 clubs are said to be keeping an eye on the 21-year-old.
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Speaking about the decision last summer, Warnock outlined the friction between himself and Spence. He also said the emergence of full-back Isaiah Jones as one of the main reasons for the move.
“Me and Djed had had a few run-ins, and we weren’t really seeing eye to eye,” Warnock told the Northern Echo . “There were a few things that had been going on in the background, and then suddenly you had Isaiah bursting onto the scene.
“If you remember, we actually played both of them in a couple of the early games of the season, but it quickly became obvious that it was going to be a straight choice of one or the other if we were going to be playing a system where one would be at right wing-back. My choice was to go with Isaiah.
“The question then was what was best for Djed? Was it best to leave him sulking on the bench because I wanted to give Isaiah a proper go? Or was it best to send him somewhere where he could play and enjoy himself a bit more?”
Despite not always seeing eye-to-eye, Warnock says that the way the move has worked out has not come as a shock to him. “It doesn’t surprise me how well he’s done at Forest, but I think it’s worked out for the best for everyone,” he said.
“Djed’s settled down and started playing well. Forest have got themselves a player that might well help them win promotion. And Boro have a player where, if they want to sell in the summer, he’s probably worth ten times what they would have got last year. He hasn’t been sulking around the place, and in Isaiah, they’ve also got a player that could easily be their right-back for the next decade if they want him to be.”
