Tottenham are reportedly set to complete the signing of James Maddison from Leicester City.
The England international, 26, and his Leicester City teammates were relegated from the Premier League last season, during which the playmaker registered 10 goals and nine assists from 30 league appearances. Following the Foxes’ relegation, he expressed a desire to stay in the Premier League with the 2024 European Championships coming up next summer.
According to The Guardian, James Maddison will undergo a medical on Wednesday after Tottenham agreed a £40m fee with Leicester City. He has agreed terms on a long-term contract and the creative midfielder’s arrival will offer a major boost for new manager Ange Postecoglou.
Postecoglou, who has already welcomed the signing of the Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli, made Maddison a No.1 target in midfield. And now with the 26-year-old on the brink of joining Postecoglou’s side, here is how Spurs could line up with Maddison next season.
How Tottenham might line up with James Maddison?
James Maddison is close to becoming Tottenham’s second signing of the summer transfer window. He will follow Guglielmo Vicario, who has arrived from Empoli for a fee of £17.2m.
The signing of Maddison will hugely improve Tottenham’s creativity, which was one of the areas they struggled with last season. He will come into a midfield that consists of players such as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp, Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur. Whilst Harry Winks is in the background—although there are rumours of him moving to Leicester City.
Maddison has played in several different roles and positions at the King Power Stadium, which is a positive for Ange Postecoglou, who likes to have players who can work flexibly in a system. Postecoglou wants to build his team in an attacking 4-3-3 system, and having a player of Maddison’s imagination and dynamism would be brilliant.
The main position that we can see the 26-year-old operating at Spurs is an advanced No.8 as a part of a midfield trio. In Antonio Conte’s 3-5-2/3-4-3 system last year, Bentancur operated as a No.8 with Hojbjerg screening the backline. He was impressive in that role before suffering an ACL injury in February.
In Postecoglou’s reconfigured 4-3-3 system, Maddison and Bentancur—after he recovers from an ACL injury—can co-exist. They can operate as two No.8s with Hojbjerg shielding the back four. Playing behind the striker has been Maddison’s primary position in his career so far, and if Postecoglou thinks of tweaking his system to a 4-2-3-1, the England international would be able to play with more freedom and link up with Harry Kane, provided the Spurs captain stays at the club.
We’ve also seen Maddison operate on the left flank in a front three at Leicester. Whilst this could have been purely down to tactics, there were also some benefits seen when the Englishman moved there. He likes playing in the half-spaces and is excellent on the half-turn.
With Son Heung-min, Ryan Sessegnon and Ivan Perisic as left-wing options at Postecoglou’s disposal, it is unlikely we see Maddison operate from out wide at Spurs. However, it is certainly a role that the 26-year-old’s shown to be capable of performing in the past.