The Tottenham Hotspur full-back has never been shy about making sure he answers back after finding himself on the end of some criticism
11:47, 31 May 2026Updated 11:53, 31 May 2026
Tottenham and England defender Djed Spence was quick to have his say after Arsenal's Champions League final defeat to PSG
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Tottenham and England defender Djed Spence was quick to have his say after Arsenal's Champions League final defeat to PSG
Djed Spence had his say in the immediate aftermath of Arsenal's Champions League final heartache and the Tottenham defender will soon be meeting up some of those devastated Gunners.
The England full-back went through a phase early in the season, during a period of strong form, of posting on social media about his 'penitentiary' and after games in which wingers struggled against him, Spence uploaded mocked up images of some of them behind bars.
In pre-season with Tottenham, he had posted an image of Bukayo Saka on the floor next to him after a strong display in a Hong Kong friendly against Arsenal with the caption 'on to the next one' before posting after an early Premier League season win against Manchester City the phrase 'Bring me your favourite winger'.
It became a habit of posting light-heartedly that he had 'locked' up wingers and even included his then Spurs team-mate Brennan Johnson and the out-on-loan Damola Ajayi after games against Wales and Doncaster Rovers respectively.
However, after Arsenal's north London derby win in February, the Gunners' social media account posted a slow-motion video on X (formerly Twitter) of Spence being dispossessed by Saka and Cristhian Mosquera at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with the caption "Locked up" and an emoji of a padlock.
Spence bided his time in response and not long after the final whistle of PSG's penalty shoot-out victory against Arsenal in Budapest on Saturday night, the full-back quoted that February Arsenal post on X and posted simply above a pair of wide-open eyes and an open padlock.
The post currently has had 177,000 likes from presumably non-Gunners fans, with Tottenham supporters replying with images of their club's Europa League win last season, while Arsenal fans pointed out that after Spurs' near relegation season they probably shouldn't be laughing at their rivals' Champions League final heartache.
Spence, who played the final game of the season with a broken jaw after an elbow in the face from Chelsea's Liam Delap in the previous game, was not the only Tottenham player to take to social media to mock their north London rivals. Richarlison posted an image of a child looking like they were crying only to burst out laughing moments after his compatriot and often derby sparring partner Gabriel blazed his all-important penalty kick over the crossbar.
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Richarlison will not be meeting up with Brazil this summer though after missing out on Carlo Ancelotti's squad for the World Cup but that's not the case for Spence who is in Thomas Tuchel's England squad and will soon be joining up with Saka and his fellow Arsenal team-mates Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke, which could lead to an awkward first moment or two.
It's not the first time Spence has waited to have his say after criticism. In May 2022, just before Tottenham signed him, the full-back, then on loan at Nottingham Forest, posted an image of himself with the Championship play-off trophy and a cigar in his mouth, tagging in former Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock with the caption: "Oh, Where’s my Manners! Welcome to Twitter."
That was in response to Warnock having questioned his attitude and said that with what he viewed as Spence's lack of commitment, he "could see him playing non-league football in five years' time".
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Four years on and after a slow start at Spurs, Spence has kicked on and has played 85 times for the Premier League club and is about to head off to the World Cup as an England international. Sometimes the best response is simply with your football.