Tottenham Hotspur have made a breakthrough in negotiations for Middlesbrough defender Djed Spence.

The Lowdown: Levy locked in talks

The right-back typically plays his football at the Riverside Stadium, but spent the 2021/22 season out on loan at Nottingham Forest, where he helped the Reds gain promotion back to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years.

His impressive performances at the City Ground clearly caught the eye of the Lilywhites, who have been locked in talks with Boro over a potential move for the 21-year-old for weeks.

Reports last week claimed Daniel Levy had personally taken over negotiations before further updates in the last 24 hours revealed the club chief was just £1m away from Steve Gibson's price tag, and it looks like that last gap may now have been bridged.

The Latest: Spurs make negotiation breakthrough

In an article published by 90min, it’s claimed that Tottenham are now ‘nearing an agreement’ with Middlesbrough for Spence, and are set to pay ‘roughly £15m’ up front for his services.

The source states that Spurs have made ‘headway in negotiations’, and hope to complete the deal ‘by the time pre-season training starts on Monday’, with the club ‘confident’ of getting it over the line.

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The Verdict: One for the future

Conte has already completed the signing of Richarlison from Everton, and it looks as though Spence will shortly be following in his footsteps to walk through the doors at Hotspur Way.

The Italian boss loves to give his wing-backs the chance to get forward, and the England U21 international does that perfectly, having provided five assists and scored three goals himself across all competitions for Forest last season, via Transfermarkt.

Spence, who was once hailed an ‘unbelievable’ player by BBC pundit Ian Wright, has so much potential for someone at such a young age, and should Spurs tie him down on a long-term basis - he will be one to build the team around in future years to come.