The England international has completed his transfer to north London after leaving Leicester City following their relegation to the Championship
Even before Leicester City's return to the Championship was confirmed, this summer had long been earmarked as the transfer window where James Maddison would depart the King Power Stadium. Over the past two seasons, Maddison has been linked with a string of Premier League clubs, including Arsenal and Newcastle.
In the end, though, it is Tottenham who have finally snapped up the England international. At the beginning of the window, the Foxes were reportedly quoting £60 million ($75.8m) for their prized asset. However, following some push back from Spurs, it's expected that he will cost just £40m ($51m).
Even with Maddison having just one year left to run on his contract, this represents pretty sensational value, especially when you consider how much Manchester United could end up paying for an English player in a similar position: Mason Mount.
This isn't just a transfer born of convenience, though. Maddison is, without doubt, an elite Premier League performer. By picking him up so early in the window, Spurs might have completed the best business of the summer so far.
Getty ImagesAmong elite company
Maddison's consistency after arriving at Leicester from Coventry City was pretty spectacular. He entered his first season with lofty expectations as the Foxes parted with a record fee for a Championship player to secure his services, but he hit the ground running, with no player in Europe's top-five leagues – not even Lionel Messi – creating more chances than him during the 2018-19 season. The arrival of Brendan Rodgers partway through that campaign coincided with a significant improvement in his overall game the following season.
Although he registered fewer assists, only Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Bruno Fernandes averaged more goal-creating actions per 90 minutes during 2019-20. Maddison's performances helped Leicester to a fifth-placed finish, and they likely would have broken into the Champions League qualification spots too, if their playmaker-in-chief did not pick up an untimely hip injury in April 2020.
The 2020-21 season was Maddison's best yet as he racked up 15 Premier League goal involvements, despite again being troubled by the same knock. He improved on this further in 2021-22, where he managed 12 goals and eight assists, despite Leicester becoming a far less well-functioning team than they had been previously.
These incremental improvements tells the story of a player who took on more and more responsibility with each passing season. And, heading into the 2022-23 campaign, a Leicester team riddled with problems on and off the field knew they would have to lean upon their talisman more than ever.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesA bump in the road
We all know how it ended, but it's worth highlighting that, for the most part, Maddison's reputation has emerged from Leicester's doomed 2022-23 season relatively unscathed. Ironically, from a statistical perspective, it was one of the midfielder's most productive campaigns.
He ended the season with 10 goals and nine assists, chipping in with some vital contributions along the way. Maddison was unplayable against Nottingham Forest in October, grabbing a fine brace and setting up Patson Daka in a dominant 4-0 win.
Handed the armband against new club Tottenham in February, he produced a captain's display, scoring and assisting in a 4-1 victory. This was supposed to provide the springboard for Leicester to pull away from the relegation zone. However, a nine-game losing run followed, with Maddison's performances falling off a cliff too.
During this dire period, it became increasingly clear that Leicester were depending on their creative fulcrum far too much – and it was getting to him. During the run-in, Maddison was infuriating to watch at times. Not only was he often trying too hard to dig his side out of the hole single-handedly, his on-field body language was overtly negative. More than once he threw his limbs about in frustration at his team-mates as they slipped further and further into relegation trouble.
(C)Getty Images'We'll be fine'
As Leicester edged towards the trap door, a tweet Maddison sent back in March gained a second life. The player had responded to a piece written by journalist Rob Tanner in which he opined that all the ingredients were there for the Foxes to be relegated following a damaging defeat to Southampton.
Maddison took exception, replying: "Rubbish. Watch and analyse the game properly and stop writing headlines like that which you know makes fans pile on with negativity. Play like that and we’ll be absolutely fine. Created numerous brilliant chances and win comfortably on another day."
Retrospectively, at best it comes across as ill-judged. At worst, it was downright arrogant. It also speaks to the pressure Maddison was feeling to be a leader in the dressing room and on the pitch during the second half of the season.
This mental toll affected his on-field displays, too. In a crunch meeting with Bournemouth in April, Maddison's horrendous attempted back pass allowed Dominic Solanke to slip through and score the only goal of the game. A few weeks later, he stepped up to take a penalty against Everton, only to see it saved by Jordan Pickford. This provided the Toffees with the impetus to recover and earn a point – a result that played a significant role in sending Leicester down.
It a worth noting that Maddison assisted Jamie Vardy in the very same game and also set up the same team-mate to score against Leeds the previous week. But still, there remains a feeling that he struggled with carrying the lionshare of his side's attack last season when the stakes were at their highest.
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Getty ImagesTime for a fresh start
This context is important in relation to his move to Tottenham. It would be easy to focus on Maddison playing for a relegated team last season and in turn dismiss his arrival as a criminal overpay. However, Spurs are likely to offer the 26-year-old the exact environment he needs to recover from a mentally-draining season. Maddison is coming into a squad where he won't be expected to be the main man.
Provided he doesn't seal a move to Bayern Munich, Harry Kane will be performing that role, alongside Son Heung-min. Freed from that responsibility, Maddison will have the headspace to focus solely on feeding his team-mates or scoring goals himself. It should be a perfect fit.