Leeds United head coach Daniel Farke is one game away from achieving his goal of earning promotion to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The German tactician was brought to the Club last summer to spearhead the charge back to the top-flight, after the Club had been relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

Farke had won two Championship titles with Norwich City and now has his eyes set on a third promotion from the division, by beating Southampton in the play-off final at Wembley.

He was backed by the board last summer, with stars like Glen Kamara, Ethan Ampadu, Joel Piroe, and Joe Rodon signed, but not every signing made was a success.

Right-back Djed Spence was snapped up on loan from Tottenham Hotspur and he ended up being a big flop, as the defender played even fewer minutes than Jaidon Anthony.

How much Leeds spent on Djed Spence

The Athletic, as relayed by SB Nation, reported last summer that the Club splashed out a loan fee of £1m to take the former Middlesbrough star for the 2023/24 campaign.

It was also claimed that Leeds would be covering his entire wage packet, which Capology have at roughly £25k-per-week, and this shows that it was far from a cheap deal for the Whites, despite it only being a loan.

Spence ultimately only stayed at Elland Road between the end of August and the start of January, which meant that the Yorkshire-based outfit spent roughly £450k in wages on him in that period, taking the total amount of money spent on the signing to around £1.45m.

It was money wasted down the drain as Leeds were rinsed by the versatile full-back, who was sent back to Tottenham at the start of the January transfer window.

Djed Spence’s nightmare with Leeds

The 23-year-old flop endured the worst possible start to his career in Yorkshire as he suffered ligament damage in his knee in September and was immediately ruled out for ten matches, having made his debut against Sheffield Wednesday just before that.

After his return from that injury, Spence only went on to play six more league games for Leeds and only one of those came in his favoured position at right-back.

He ended his time at Elland Road with just 390 minutes played in the Championship. Even Anthony, who has started two league matches on loan from Bournemouth, has played more minutes – with 519.

According to The Athletic, Spence was late to some team meetings and training sessions during his spell with Leeds and failed to turn up to an ‘off-field event’, which may have contributed to their decision to send him back to Spurs in January, although the outlet stated that Farke’s main concern was his performances on the pitch.

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Irrespective of the true reason they cut the loan short, the Whites paid around £1.45m in a loan fee and wages for a player who barely played and was then sent back five months earlier than expected. They were, therefore, rinsed by the expensive loan as that money went straight down the drain.