Chris Wilder delivers fresh Djed Spence update, deal expectation and Tottenham negotiations

Middlesbrough boss Chris Wilder says Djed Spence has expressed his desire to leave, and he expects that to happen, but the player will be expected to report back for pre-season training if no deal is struck with Tottenham before then.

The 21-year-old right wing-back helped Nottingham Forest gain promotion to the Premier League during an eye-catching season on loan with Steve Cooper's side in the Championship. Spence is understood to be keen on a move to Spurs, but the north London club are yet to push through their attempts to prise him away from Boro.

Wilder namechecked Tottenham repeatedly when speaking about Spence and indicated that the player does want to join Antonio Conte's side. The Boro boss also stated that while he does expect a deal to happen for the right wing-back to leave the club, currently, nothing has progressed.

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"If nothing happens with Djed, then he's our player, and he'll be back for pre-season," Wilder is quoted as saying in The Northern Echo. "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 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