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Phil Hay shares the real issues which led to Djed Spence’s loan at Leeds being terminated

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Leeds United caused a stir when Djed Spence’s loan spell from Tottenham Hotspur was terminated early last week.

Spence had just been starting to find his rhythm at Elland Road following a long injury lay-off, but Leeds made the shock decision to end his time at the club.

Daniel Farke tenuously touched on the reasons for Spence’s departure in a press conference last week, hinting at some problems with attitude. Understandably, though, he did not want to go into too much detail.

However, speaking on the latest episode of the Square Ball Podcast, Phil Hay has looked to shed some more light into the reasons behind Farke’s decision, with Spence having since signed on loan at Genoa.

Hay claims that Farke was not too happy with the performance levels of Spence in his appearances for Leeds, while off the field, there were also issues with his time keeping.

Hay sheds light on Spence exit

He said: “Farke was careful not to throw him completely under the bus, but the biggest issue for Farke were the performance levels it just wasn’t quite right, it wasn’t what he’s looking for, there were issues with lateness and things like that and in the end it made more sense for Leeds to send him back.”

Considering the length of time he had been out, it is perhaps a tad harsh for Farke to call out his performance levels so soon after coming back.

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Spence was excellent in the win over Ipswich Town and was also decent against the likes of Sunderland and Coventry City. However, there is no excuse for him to consistently be late.

There had been plenty of chatter about his attitude problems even before Leeds signed him in the summer, and it would appear he is yet to iron those out of his game.

However, once he does that, there is no doubt he will go onto enjoy an excellent career and hopefully that is at Genoa.