Tottenham: £40million signing of James Maddison represents a financial win
Tottenham announced the signing of Leicester City midfielder James Maddison on Wednesday 28 June.
Daniel Levy might not be every Tottenham fan’s cup of tea but one thing cannot be denied, he is a savvy businessman, and this Maddison deal is just another example of that.
In today’s market to sign a player like Maddison for £40million is an absolute bargain, which is the fee Levy managed to agree for the England playmaker, as reported by BBC Sport (28 June).
Maddison scored 55 goals and provided 41 assists during 203 Leicester appearances and this creativity is something the club has been desperately crying out for since Christian Eriksen’s departure in 2020.
How they managed to replace that creativity for just £40million, though, is all down to a bit of brilliant business – and a tiny bit of luck along the way.
As reported by James Percy in The Telegraph (28 June), Leicester’s hierarchy originally wanted up to £60million for their star midfielder, which in all honesty wasn’t an unreasonable request for a player of Maddison’s quality.
Their relegation made achieving that fee difficult though and despite the asking price, Levy would have known he could get that figure down due to the position the East Midlands club found themselves in.
Few Spurs fans would have had much of an emotional reaction when the Foxes’ relegation was confirmed on the final day of the 2022/23 Premier League season, yet little did they know their former title rivals’ fate would be a blessing in disguise.
A saving of over £20million on Maddison means fans will now expect those funds to be redistributed into other key areas of a squad still in need of serious fixing. Ange Postecoglou will be delighted his new employers have got this signing across the line, but the job is not yet complete.
New central defenders are needed urgently and fans will hope to see two or three walk into Hotspur Way over the coming weeks, not just one. Edmond Tapsoba and Micky van de Ven are both reported targets, as per Fabrizio Romano (28 June), and there is no reason why Spurs shouldn’t be aiming for the pair of them after their latest financial savings.
In other Tottenham news, one man who the club must build their defence around is already within their ranks.