Player Watch Player Watch: James Maddison

[McFlash]

Well that’s disappointing and completely unsurprising. I know he’s a spurs fan but that only goes so far.

He's also best mates with Devine, so that's another straw I'm clutching at!

 

[Albertbarich]

He's also best mates with Devine, so that's another straw I'm clutching at!

Didn't get say something like he can't believe he gets to play alongside a spurs player?

If we offer him sensible money and a fair shot at playing time I think he is ours.

 

[Trix]

If we cannot compete for the young players, especially for those are the Tottenham fans, I don't know what to say.

I never said we couldn't compete just that there is lots of interest as you'd expect for the best technical young player in the Championship.

 

[Trix]

He's a spurs fan so hopefully that swings it for us - if we are actually interested, of course.

We'd have to actually go in for him first.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Tottenham will ramp up Maddison pursuit after Postecoglou appointment

TOM COLLOMOSSE: Maddison has been on Spurs' radar since he was a 17-year-old breaking into the first team at Coventry in the 2014-15 season.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Tottenham will ramp up their pursuit of James Maddison after appointing Ange Postecoglou, with Leicester expected to lower £60m asking price for midfielder after relegation​

• Ange Postecoglou could make James Maddison his first signing at Tottenham
• Leicester will likely receive less than the £60m valuation they have of the player

Tottenham are poised to step up their interest in James Maddison after finalising a deal to make Ange Postecoglou their new manager this week.

Maddison will leave Leicester – who are without a boss themselves – this summer following the club’s relegation to the Championship.

The Foxes valued Maddison at about £60million when they rejected offers from Newcastle but now they are in the second tier and with only a year remaining on Maddison’s contract, they are unlikely to generate that fee.


Maddison has been on Spurs’ radar since he was a 17-year-old breaking into the first team at Coventry in the 2014-15 season.

They decided against moving for Maddison on two previous occasions, when he left the Sky Blues to join Norwich in January 2016, and when he joined Leicester two-and-a-half years later. Yet he has admirers in north London and Spurs are likely to enter the race.

Yet they may not be the only club to move for Maddison, who has long had dreams of playing European football. As well as Newcastle, Arsenal showed an interest two summers ago, as did Manchester United in the year before that.

Despite Leicester’s relegation, Maddison has established himself as one of the best creators in the Premier League in the last two seasons. He produced 12 goals and eight assists in the 2021-22 campaign and followed it with 10 goals and nine assists in the recently-concluded one.

Maddison was also included in the England squad for last winter’s World Cup though a knee problem meant he did not make an appearance in the run to the quarter-finals.

The 26-year-old will not be the only senior player to leave Leicester in a summer of upheaval for the club. Winger Harvey Barnes is admired by Aston Villa and West Ham while Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi have just 12 months left on their contracts and could also depart.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

He's a spurs fan so hopefully that swings it for us - if we are actually interested, of course.

Although that might increase our chances a little his priority will be which club will give him the best chance to flourish. I could see us being a hard sell tbh as we aren’t in a great place and we don’t have a good recent record of developing youth. Yes I know it’s sort of clean slat with Ange but still, if City were offering me first team football I’d probably go there. He is best mates with Devine tho so maybe that also helps, unless Devine isn’t happy of course.
.

 

[Now it's Spursonal]

I was under the assumption that it's essentially the same role but on the other side of the pitch, no?

Primarily they have different roles in the press, with the left sided 8 (Hatate) being expected to press higher up almost in line with the striker in a 442 shape. Alex Scott is a great tackler/disruptor so would strive in this role.

In possession then, the two 8's are relatively similar but the right sided 8 (O'Reilly) has more free reign to push forward into the box. This would very much suit Devine (or Maddison for that matter) as he's very good at attacking the box.

Alex Scott's shooting from what i've seen is actually probably his weakest point. In reality, to play either 8 role he'd have to work on this a lot.

 

[JayB]

Although that might increase our chances a little his priority will be which club will give him the best chance to flourish. I could see us being a hard sell tbh as we aren’t in a great place and we don’t have great recent record of developing youth. Yes I know it’s sort of clean slat with Ange but still, if City were offering me first team football I’d probably go there. He is best mates with Devine tho so maybe that also helps, unless Devine isn’t happy of course.
.

Missing out on Europe next season hurts us here. If we'd qualified for Europa League or Conference League football then we'd be able to pitch young talents on a pathway to meaningful first-team minutes.

If we're in for the likes of Hatate and Maddison to play the No. 8 roles in Ange's setup I don't see where we'd be able to fit a youngster such as Scott in, particularly with Devine already on the books and (up until now) not getting a look in. We'd probably be looking at loaning Scott out immediately upon signing him and you'd imagine there will be some other club with an immediate pathway to first-team football that would be a more attractive prospect.

 

[Misfit]

He's still only just 26? Seems to have been around since forever.

 

[ukdy]

He's a spurs fan so hopefully that swings it for us - if we are actually interested, of course.

A Spurs fan that has said publicly before that he doesn’t like us and called Gareth Bale a monkey.

Interesting definition of fan there, unless he’s a fan of a club that isn’t in the Championship.

 

[coy-spurs1882]

A Spurs fan that has said publicly before that he doesn’t like us and called Gareth Bale a monkey.

Interesting definition of fan there, unless he’s a fan of a club that isn’t in the Championship.

@JUSTINSIGNAL referred to Alex Scott not Maddison

 

[ukdy]

@JUSTINSIGNAL referred to Alex Scott not Maddison

Ah fair enough. I wasn’t scrolling back through 100 messages for confirmation in what I thought was the JM thread.

 

[coy-spurs1882]

Ah fair enough. I wasn’t scrolling back through 100 messages for confirmation in what I thought was the JM thread.

I think we need a thread for Scott but sadly there is no concrete link to him

 

[hero]

I never said we couldn't compete just that there is lots of interest as you'd expect for the best technical young player in the Championship.

I am sorry, I didn't mean you had told it. I merely think, that he must be our main target. An we gave the advantage, that he is our fan. We can propose a compensation on par. And a game time on par or even more minutes. I personally will be so pissed of if don't get it. Because we need to back on track of making a shrewd business (if we ever were there).

 

[Fredo]

50m might seem a lot but as a club desperate for a good attacking midfielder, its worth it. We havent had a link between mid-attack since eriksen

 

[Impspur1]

I think we will have a clear run at him as it seems newcastle are going for the more sensible signing in the Hungarian chap from Leipzig who’s name I can’t spell.

Keyser Söze?

 

[Montalbano]

I’m absolutely team sign Maddison. This squad is completely devoid of creativity outside of Kane (and sometimes Kulu) and I think Maddison has proven to be one of the best playmakers in the league. We are so one dimensional in our play with Kane being the focal point in every attack and without him, we look incapable of creating anything going forward. You know a player like Maddison will take the creative burden off Kane and will help unlock Richarlison and our other forwards too.
We need to prioritize a new first choice LCB, Playmaker, and GK. ~£40mm-50mm for a proven first choice playmaker is more than reasonable to me.

 

[arunspurs]

50m for Maddison IMO is value for money. He is English , so that means even 4 years down the line, he could get us 15m or so for sale.

He has 77 goal contributions (43 goals 34 assist) in 5 PL seasons, with goal or assist in PL every 160minutes. That for a midfielder in a team that doesnt have great forwards is really good.

Also these stats dont tell us about his creativity in setting up as assist to assist...

Its a no brainer even if its 50m. We can spend 30m or 40m on another player from Europe. But whoever that is will always be a risky option.

Maddison is proven in PL time & again. I would rather pay 5m or so more for him than land some prospect in Europe.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I am undecided.

Let's get in a GK, CB, and then start clearing the decks - and then figure out how Ange was to set up. If Ange is looking for a single pivot, and 2 8's, then I think Maddison becomes a square peg in search of a round hole.

Maybe, I could see not picking up Kulu's option, and using the money on Maddison to play on the right of a front 3. But, my preference is still Kulu.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

Thanks for the info. Funny people are turning their noses up yet city want him.

Who is turning their nose up at Scott?