‘Tottenham abandon Eze transfer pursuit due to Maddison’ – Exclusive
Thomas Frank is facing difficult decisions ahead of his squad planning at Tottenham.
Daniel Levy will only afford the Dane a limited budget, which Frank will have to use wisely to improve key areas of weakness in the Spurs squad.
The former Bees manager’s job is particularly complicated as most players have yet to return from their break, which hasn’t afforded the 51-year-old the chance to assess them up close.
However, as Antoine Semenyo’s situation has proved, Frank does not have the luxury of time and must make critical decisions swiftly to secure the right players.
Tottenham back off from signing Eberechi Eze
It has been widely reported that Tottenham have cooled their interest in Eberechi Eze despite tracking the Crystal Palace star’s progress for a long time.
Eze could now join Arsenal, while Spurs are focused on agreeing a deal for Mohammed Kudus.
Frank has prioritised at least one forward and could also be happy with Tottenham’s already-available options in attacking midfield in James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.
| Player | Appearances | Goals | Assists | Minutes Played |
| James Maddison | 45 | 12 | 11 | 2,718′ |
| Dejan Kulusevski | 50 | 10 | 11 | 3,450′ |
| Eberechi Eze | 43 | 14 | 11 | 3,303′ |
And ex-Spurs scout Bryan King – speaking exclusively to Tottenham News – believes that Frank’s stance on Maddison has contributed to Tottenham abandoning their pursuit of Eze.
“I think Tottenham have enough midfield players,” King said.
“Eze is a bit too similar to Maddison, and I think Frank will want to take a look at Maddison before making any decisions. If Tottenham are going to sign Kudus, they’ll feel that a deal for Eze as well might be too much.
“Frank might have one or two other players up his sleeve whom he was watching while he was at Brentford. Maddison and Eze are quite similar, and I think Frank will want to focus on seeing Maddison back fit again.”
Maddison’s last chance to prove himself
Maddison is arguably Tottenham‘s most divisive player. The attacking midfielder possesses world-class qualities on his day, but is equally guilty of letting games pass him by.
The Englishman is very reliant on being at peak physical condition to perform at his best, but has suffered from various injuries since joining the Lilywhites from Leicester City just over two years ago.
At 28 years old, Maddison should be in his prime and must prove that he can be relied upon throughout a whole campaign under Frank next season; otherwise, Spurs may be forced to look elsewhere.
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