Djed Spence Joins Inter Training After €35m Move

Djed Spence steps onto the grass at last. Not under the San Siro lights, not yet, but under the quieter glare of the training ground cameras – a small moment, but an important one, almost a month after his arrival from Tottenham Hotspur.

For the first time since completing his €35m summer move, the England international has joined his new Inter teammates in a full outdoor session, club photographers capturing the right-back as he worked on the pitch on Thursday. Italian outlets confirmed it was his first time “out on the grass” in Nerazzurri colours, a phrase that underlines how long this wait has been for a player signed to make an immediate impact.

A delayed start

Spence’s absence from early-season action has raised eyebrows, particularly with expectations high after his World Cup run with England. The 26-year-old was granted an extended break following his journey to the semi-finals over the summer, a reward for a physically and emotionally draining tournament.

That rest, though, came with a complication. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Spence returned with a minor physical issue that cost him the final stretch of pre-season. Not a crisis, but enough to knock his rhythm and push back his integration into Simone Inzaghi’s plans.

It helps explain a simple but glaring fact: he has yet to feature for Inter. While another England World Cup squad member, John Stones, has already appeared three times since his own move to San Siro earlier in the summer, Spence has been limited to watching from the sidelines and walking the touchline before games, as he did before the Serie A clash with Monza at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on August 22.

The shirt is his. The minutes are not. Not yet.

Inter take the long view

There are three days to go until Inter’s next league fixture, a Monday night home game against Udinese. On paper, that might look like a natural window for a debut, especially now that Spence has finally joined full outdoor training.

Inside the club, the mood is different.

Reports from SportMediaset indicate that Inter’s hierarchy are in no mood to rush their new signing. The logic is clear: a €35m investment, arriving slightly behind schedule physically, should not be thrown straight into the intensity of Serie A without the proper build-up. One full session on the grass is a step, not a finish line.

The calendar offers a more measured solution. Inter’s first match after the upcoming international break, at home to Parma on October 10, has reportedly been marked as the most realistic target for Spence’s debut. That date gives him crucial weeks to build fitness, understand Inzaghi’s demands, and settle into a defensive unit that already has its own hierarchy and habits.

So the wait goes on. The San Siro crowd will have to hold off on its first real look at Djed Spence in competitive action. For Inter, the calculation is simple: better to delay the unveiling than to risk a setback for a player signed to be part of the club’s future, not just its present.