Tottenham 'foolish' to allow Djed Spence to leave for Everton
Tottenham Hotspur cannot afford to lose the likes of Djed Spence and Archie Gray this summer.
That is the opinion of former senior Tottenham scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Several young players have already left the Lilywhites this summer, with Lucas Bergvall hoping to join them amid interest from Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United.
Significant interest has also been shown in Spence, 25, who enjoyed a superb latter stages of the World Cup with England.
Everton have registered their interest in Spence and had hoped to complete a deal worth around £25million for the defender, but that price tag has now increased dramatically.
Gray has also attracted interest in the form of Newcastle United, but talks have died down amid Roberto De Zerbi's backing of the midfielder.
Djed Spence tipped for future Tottenham captaincy
Tottenham's drive to recruit in the transfer market this summer has had its effects on the squad.
The arrivals of Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes have left competition fierce in midfield, with Bergvall's likely exit the result.
New defenders Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Andy Robertson have seen the exit of Luka Vuskovic, and could prompt the departures of Spence and Gray if Tottenham are not careful.
"I wouldn't get rid of Gray or Spence because I could see one of those becoming a future captain of that football club," King told Football Insider.
"Spence had a very good World Cup. The boy Gray is just lacking that little thing to be a top-class Premier League player but he'd be a good squad player for anybody, any team in the Premier League, and especially Tottenham.
"The pair of them have filled in four or five different positions before this new manager came. I mean, they were playing right-backs, they were playing centre midfield, playing wide midfield. Both full-back positions they played. Which isn't really the way you want to bring in young players into your club.
"Spence showed that he can certainly take the full-back position on, and he can also fill in as a central defender, as can Gray. So I think that'd be foolish to even think about getting rid of those two players."
He added: "I could see Spence becoming a captain of that football club."
What Roberto De Zerbi has said about Spence
Spence is not yet due to return from his holidays, with talks set to take place with De Zerbi.
Speaking on Thursday, the Italian said: "I repeat what I said to Djed, and to Lucas [Bergvall].
"I would like you to stay if you want to stay. If you don't want to stay, if you want to leave, then you have to leave."
It remains to be seen just how costly Tottenham's ambition has been on their stocks of talent this summer.