James Maw of The Athletic claims that Djed Spence could have some form of future with Tottenham Hotspur despite a loan move to Stade Rennes last month.
The Lowdown: Spence makes loan move
Spence left Antonio Conte's side this month and will be on loan with the Ligue 1 outfit until the end of the season.
The deal contains no obligation or option to buy for Rennes, meaning he will definitely head back to north London at the end of the season.
Tottenham only bought the player last summer, but he's struggled for game time this season. Spence has only featured four times for Spurs in the Premier League.
The Latest: Maw makes Spence claim
Speaking to The View From The Lane podcast, Maw claimed that the straight loan is not something you see often in football nowadays and claims the player will be at Spurs next season.
He stated (22:24), "It's quite rare that you'll see a loan deal like this with no option or obligation these days. Normally, it will come with one or the other.
"So maybe that's quite telling the fact that there this is an expectation that he'll be back at Tottenham next season, and that things will suddenly be different."
The Verdict: An uncertain future
We believe that if Spence is to have some sort of future with Tottenham, then he'll have to really impress on loan at Rennes between now and the end of the season.
A straight loan certainly indicates that Spurs have no intention of letting him go immediately, but in our view, there's one factor around his Spurs move that is a concern.
Conte claimed that signing the 22-year-old was not his decision, it was the club who saw him as an 'investment' and not the Italian.
This could mean that the full-back will have to make a massive statement if he's to impress Conte, he could be harder to impress if he wasn't signed by him specifically.
What could work in his favour is if Conte leaves at the end of the season when his contract runs out, a new manager may give Spence more opportunities in the first-team next season.
Ex-footballer Trevor Sinclair labelled Spence as 'the real deal' when he joined the club after his loan spell with Nottingham Forest.
He told TalkSport that he ran Arsenal players Kieran Tierney and Gabriel Martinelli 'ragged' in an FA Cup match last season.
Spence has bags of potential and shown what talent he has last season, but he needs to grasp this loan opportunity with both hands if he is to have a long-term future at Spurs under Conte or another manager.