Inter defender Djed-Hotep Spence finds himself at the centre of a club in transition, with the Nerazzurri confirming a change in sporting leadership this week as Piero Ausilio departed after 28 years and was immediately replaced by Baccin — a shift that will shape how Inter's squad is managed, contracted, and developed for years to come.
The timing is not incidental for Spence. At 26, the right-sided defender is entering what should be the most decisive stretch of his career, and the man who will now oversee Inter's footballing decisions is not the one who brought him to Milan. Eleven contracts are reportedly approaching expiration at the club, and how Baccin navigates that caseload will define the squad Cristian Eugen Chivu has available as the season deepens.
Chivu's Inter have opened the 2026-27 Serie A campaign with two wins from two, five goals scored and one conceded — a defensive record that gives Spence's position genuine relevance. A back line that has conceded once in two matches is not an abstraction; it is a competitive argument for continuity. Whether Spence is contributing to that solidity as a starter or as a rotational presence, the numbers at least confirm that the unit around him is functioning.
His profile carries a complexity worth examining. The 30 appearances he accumulated in the Premier League during 2025-26 — not in Serie A, and not with Inter — produced neither a goal nor an assist. That is a full season of involvement without a direct attacking contribution, which for a modern fullback operating in an expansive system is a limitation the data makes plain. His AI overall of 66 out of 100 reflects a player with a defined ceiling at present, one who offers reliability without yet imposing himself on matches.
The Champions League squad confirmation, reported earlier this week, already established that Chivu's staff regard Spence as part of the competitive picture across both fronts. That inclusion carries weight. European campaigns demand squad depth, and a defender who can cover the right flank across a congested fixture schedule has practical value even when his attacking numbers are modest.
What Baccin inherits is a squad in good early form and a player in Spence who represents exactly the kind of mid-tier decision that defines a sporting director's tenure: not a marquee name, not a liability, but a 26-year-old with room to grow and a contract situation that will eventually require a clear answer. Oaktree's reported interest in Serie A's television rights adds another layer of institutional ambition around the club — the context in which Spence will be evaluated is one of a project with serious long-term intent.
The early Serie A results buy Chivu time and credibility. For Spence, they buy something more immediate: a chance to make the new regime's first impression of him a good one.