Maddison has creative spark to ignite Spurs as they finally get their man

TOTTENHAM’S capture of James Maddison effectively concludes an eight-year interest in the creative midfielder.

- Dan Kilpatrick

David Pleat, the former Spurs manager who has remained close to Daniel Levy, recommended Maddison to the chairman way back when he was a teenager at Coventry and then again when the playmaker was preparing to leave Norwich for Leicester in the summer of 2018.

Maddison remained on Spurs’s radar and Levy considered a move for the England international last summer, before finally completing a deal worth £40m yesterday.

It is astute business in this market, particularly with Harry Winks set to move the other way for £10m in a separate deal.

Maddison’s signing is a welcome tonic for everyone associated with Spurs, energising supporters (and providing a much-needed distraction from Harry Kane’s uncertain future), adding spark to new head coach Ange Postecoglou’s squad and allowing under-pressure Levy to get one over Saudi-backed Newcastle, who were also pursuing the 26-year-old.

For at least three seasons, Tottenham have been overly-reliant on Kane for creativity while lacking flair outside of the front three, and under both Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte it became clear that if the England captain and Heung-min Son could be stopped, so too could Spurs.