Middlesbrough will only sell Djed Spence for the right price as they don't depend on the sale

Chris Wilder expects Djed Spence to leave Middlesbrough this summer but will be prepared to use him if an acceptable offer does not arrive. Tottenham are believed to leading the race to sign the right-back, but Wilder insists that Boro won’t be bullied into selling the defender for below his market value.

Spence is in high demand this summer after a stellar season while on loan at Nottingham Forest. He helped Forest win promotion back to the Premier League but they appear to have moved on to alternative targets as Spence appears to favour a move to Spurs. With two years left on his Boro deal, the club have some power and Wilder would have no hesitation in playing the 22-year-old if no deal was concluded.

It’s not known exactly how much Boro want for Spence this summer, though recent reports elsewhere have suggested that talks between the two clubs have reached an impasse as the Premier League club have reportedly only been willing to offer £10 million up front, with Boro wanting at least £15 million. Those figures are hearsay for now, but what’s clear is that Boro won’t agree to a sale unless the price works for them, with Wilder insisting they are fair with the valuation and won’t be bullied into selling him below his value.

“If nothing happens with Djed, then he’s our player and he’ll be back for pre-season,” Wilder insisted. “From my point of view, negotiations between Kieran [Scott], Neil [Bausor], Steve [Gibson] and Tottenham stay between Kieran, Neil, Steve and Tottenham. If the deal doesn’t get done, we’ll see where we go from there.

“Have I got an input into it? Yeah, 100 per cent. The boy obviously doesn’t want to come back here, which I’ve got absolutely no issue with. He obviously sees his future away from here, and he had a brilliant season last season. We’re expecting that deal to happen, but if it doesn’t, then he’s our player.

“From a club point of view, the deal has to be right. We’re not trying to stand in the way of anybody. I’ve never done that as a manager, and I’ve had plenty of situations before where opportunities have come along to players. But there are always three parties involved in any deal, and it’s got to be right for all three parties for it to happen. It’s got to be right for the player, and obviously from the noises, it sounds as though that’s [Spurs] where he wants to go. Tottenham want him, and we’re prepared for that. But it’s got to be right for us too. It all needs to marry up.

“We’re a reasonable football club, but some of the numbers you sometimes get quoted are ridiculous and we’re not going to allow anyone to take advantage of us. We got quoted £20-25m for a forward playing in the Championship recently, but we didn’t think that was a fair number. We’re prepared to pay fair numbers, as we always have done, but we’re not going to be silly, and we’re certainly not going to be giving our players away for a fee we don’t think is right. Ultimately, Djed’s our player.”

As the Spence saga rumbles on, Boro continue to work hard on their own incomings. In the last two days Boro have completed their second and third signings of the summer transfer window, while work continues to add quality in other areas of the squad too. Wilder predicts there could be as many as ten new signings arriving before the end of August.

And while concluding a Spence deal would certainly help Boro in that regard, thanks to the generosity of owner Steve Gibson, Wilder insists they aren’t dependant on it. Work to bring players in continues regardless of whether Spence is sold or not.

Wilder continued: “We’re not reliant on getting in money for Djed Spence, although obviously it would help. We’re certainly not in a position where we’re having to wait to see what happens with Djed before we can get other things done. I spoke to the chairman, and Steve is ambitious and excited about the future.

“The good thing about Steve is that he knows the club have to do their absolute maximum to support a push to be in and around the top of the division. That means getting the right players in, although it also has to be at the right value too. We’ll walk away from deals if they’re not right for us.”