Genoa give Djed Spence verdict after Tottenham player and former Leeds United man had 'problem'

Former Leeds United loanee Djed Spence made his first appearance for his new club Genoa on Sunday. Spence spent the first half of the campaign on loan at Elland Road but struggled with injury in what was a hugely frustrating spell.

The right-back did return to fitness in time to play his part over the festive period for the Whites and racked up seven appearances in total, but almost as soon as they were able to, Leeds cut his loan in West Yorkshire short. It was a move that left Leeds short of defensive cover, something they are thought to be working to rectify over the remainder of the window, while Spence returned to parent club Tottenham Hotspur with a huge amount of uncertainty.

Shortly after returning to north London, though, the defender was on the move again. This time he was used as makeweight in the deal to sign Radu Dragusin from Genoa, joining the Serie A outfit on loan for the remainder of the season.

Spence had to wait to link up with his new teammates, but Genoa boss Alberto Gilardino was more than happy to throw him in the deep end over the weekend, using him from the start in their clash with Salernitana. It was a game Genoa needed to win to give themselves a little more breathing space over Serie A's bottom three, and they did, recording a 2-1 victory on the road.

Spence was used as a left wing-back in a 3-5-2 formation by Gilardino and while he didn't record a goal involvement, he played his part in the victory, much to his new manager's delight.

"He trained for three days with the team because he was in London due to a bureaucratic problem," Gilardino said, as per Sos Fanta. "He did well, he raced and worked with the team.

"He has room for improvement, but everyone was strong. I saw interdiction and quality, then we took advantage of the depth of the offensive tandem."

After an up and down few seasons, Spence will be hoping to find stability in Italy over the second half of the season and get his career back on track.