Championship outfit Middlesbrough have not held talks with Nottingham Forest loanee Djed Spence over his future during the 2021/22 campaign despite seeing him heavily linked with a move away from the Riverside Stadium in recent months, according to the Northern Echo.

The 21-year-old has been one of Forest's most influential performers this term, playing a big part in guiding the Reds to the play-off final with his two goals and five assists in 42 league appearances for the East Midlands side.

Despite this, they have no option to recruit the wing-back on a permanent basis and this has provided others with an opportunity to win his signature, with Tottenham Hotspur preparing to make a move for him before the summer window opens.

Forest are thought to be keen on sealing a permanent agreement for Spence as well, although that move is only likely to be possible if they win this weekend's play-off final against Huddersfield Town, especially considering some of the other sides in the race for his signature.

Arsenal, Bayern Munch and Manchester City are three other sides reported to have been monitoring his situation ahead of a potential move, with Boro prepared to cash in on him now they have Isaiah Jones at their disposal.

The Teesside outfit are yet to engage in talks with the 21-year-old yet, although they are planning to address his situation quickly when the weekend is done with the second-tier side likely to generate a sizeable amount of money for his signature.

The Verdict:

This is a respectful move from Boro and that could potentially help to strengthen relations between the two sides for the future, something that could be particularly useful for Chris Wilder's side if Forest are promoted.

Steve Cooper's side may be willing to loan out some of their players if they win promotion and have too many options in certain positions, though it remains to be seen if any would be of interest to the Teesside club.

Looking at the East Midlands side's squad, players like Cafu and Xande Silva could potentially be available and those two could be valuable additions, especially the latter who will have a point to prove after only having a very limited number of first-team opportunities to prove himself at the City Ground.

This is why maintaining this relationship may pay dividends - and it could enable them to negotiate favourable permanent deals for Forest players in the future as well - so this decision by Boro not to disrupt his season may work out for them just as much as it has for Forest.

Engaging in transfer talks may have affected his performance levels at the City Ground as well and that could have reduced his valuation, so this move isn't just a simple act of kindness, though the Teesside club have shown decency and respect in this situation.