23-year-old Tottenham player says Jose Mourinho asked for his shirt once

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Tottenham Hotspur loanee Djed Spence has revealed how Jose Mourinho once asked for his shirt after a game, to give to his son.

The 23-year-old Spurs defender, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport (9/2/24, pg. 21), recalled the anecdote from 2020, when he was at still at Middlesbrough.

Four years ago, Tottenham faced the Teessiders in the FA Cup third round, back when Mourinho was still in charge of Spurs.

Tottenham drew 1-1 against Boro in the first game at the Riverside Stadium, which meant a replay at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

After Spurs ran out 2-1 winners in the latter game, Mourinho knocked on the away team’s dressing room and asked Spence if he could have his shirt.

“Mourinho enters,” Spence said. “He came to me and asked me for my shirt to take to his son, who was a fan of mine.

“I was quite surprised, I admit. I gave him my shirt. We are talking about one of the greatest coaches in the world.”

Djed Spence joined Tottenham 15 months after Jose Mourinho left Spurs

Just over a year later, Mourinho lost his job at Tottenham manager, just before Spurs were set to compete in the Carabao Cup final.

Then, 15 months down the line, Spence began his own Spurs journey after helping loan club Nottingham Forest go up into the Premier League.

Tottenham signed the 23-year-old from Boro, where he was still on the books, for a deal reportedly worth up to £20million.

Sadly, Spence’s time at Spurs hasn’t quite gone to plan. He has taken in three loan spells while on their books, and is now at Genoa until at least the end of the season.

The deal – which helped pave the way for Radu Dragusin to go to Tottenham – reportedly has an option for the Serie A club to buy Spence €10million (£8.5million).

Let’s hope that Spence does well enough for Genoa to take up that option, as it means he’ll have got his career back on track.

After seeing how good he was at Forest, it would be great to see him hit those heights again.