Djed Spence has been warned he won't get a game at Tottenham after Antonio Conte's revelation about him this week.
Spurs boss Conte admitted that Spence was a club signing and not a player he had pushed hard for himself. And that has cut no ice with Paul Merson - who almost ended up in exactly the same position at the end of his playing career.
Writing in his Daily Star column, former Arsenal and England forward Merson reckons Tottenham's £20m new boy is on a hiding to nothing at White Hart Lane. He said: "Conte admitting that Djed Spence wasn't his signing is a slap in the face for Tottenham's latest buy.
"It's terrible when you know the manager didn't really want you. I've been in that situation myself - but I decided not to go. Years ago I had a chance to join West Brom and the club rang me up when I left Portsmouth and said they wanted to sign me. I said: 'Brilliant. But I don't think the manager, Gary Megson, would have it.' And they said: 'It doesn't matter, we want to sign you anyway!'
"But it doesn't work like that. You want to sign for a manager who wants you. The manager has to like you. I wasn't convinced Gary Megson would want me because I don't play the way he likes, but they told me they were sure he would. Gary Megson was on holiday at the time and West Brom said they would get hold of him and let me know.
"They rang me back three days later and said: 'Yeah, you were right, he doesn't want you!' But I didn't mind that. I never wanted to go to a place where the manager didn't want me. The manager picks the team. Daniel Levy isn't picking the team at Tottenham. Antonio Conte is. And buying him a player he didn't ask for?
"That doesn't work for me. I don't like that one. You've got an elite manager there. Why mess it up. Don't upset an elite manager. Djed Spence won't play will he? He won't get a game. And that's a shame because he's a really good player, and to be fair the likes of Emerson Royal haven't pulled up any trees.
"But Spurs do this a lot. They like to buy young players whether the manager wants them or not. It's happened a few times. They've got to catch other teams up and the only way to make sure you're doing that over the long term is to make sure you're buying quality youngsters who develop. I get that.
"But it's not a good start if you know the manager didn't really want you. He will find it much harder in the Premier League than he did in the Championship where he was ripping it up. Over the long term it could be a good signing. But he's obviously going to have be patient. And Conte isn't going to be there forever."
