Championship outfit Middlesbrough have taken the decision to extend Djed Spence's holiday to next Monday, according to an update from ESPN journalist James Olley.

The 21-year-old has been heavily linked with a move away from the Riverside Stadium in recent months after impressing at former loan side Nottingham Forest.

Isaiah Jones' emergence on Teesside has created more speculation on Spence's future and the latter now seems destined to make a move to a top-flight team after becoming one of the most sought-after players in the second tier, no real surprise considering his contribution to the cause at the City Ground.

Tottenham Hotspur and Forest were both front runners for his signature with the latter prepared to break their transfer record for his services, though it was the former that previously looked set to win the race.

However, Spurs are yet to seal a deal for his services and reporter Olley has revealed Steve Cooper's side, Brentford, Borussia Dortmund and others remain keen on the England youth international.

He also claims that the right-sided player has been allowed to spend extra time away from the Riverside, potentially enabling Spence to get a deal over the line without needing to return to Teesside.

The Verdict:

Considering he isn't likely to be at Boro beyond the summer, having Spence away from the first team for now is probably a good idea because Chris Wilder will be desperate for all of his players to be fully focused during pre-season.

However, it will be interesting to see what will happen if he fails to secure a move away - because they would ideally need to play him to ensure he retains his value.

With his potential move to Spurs stalling, that just goes to show that the Teesside outfit may have trouble offloading him with their current valuation of the 21-year-old the main barrier to a deal being completed at this stage.

Even if they receive a bit less for him than they had hoped, they may benefit from adding in a sell-on clause to benefit from a future sale and in fairness, timing is just as important as the amount of money they generate from his signature.

If they can sell him in the coming weeks, that could allow Wilder to land some of his top targets because he will be able to pay that bit extra to get some agreements over the line.