Matthew Chadder

Fri 30 June 2023 10:30, UK

Harry Kane scored 30 Premier League goals last season – thirty – while playing in a pragmatic side that finished eighth.

Erling Halaand rightfully stole all the headlines during Manchester City’s treble-winning campaign after shattering Premier League records in his first season in England. Yet what Kane did was quietly more impressive.

Halaand was feeding off of the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish. At times last season, Kane was Spurs’ only creative outlet as well as goalscorer.

In all honesty, Kane has been Spurs’ only real creative outlet for a while now.

It is no coincidence that since Christian Eriksen’s departure three years ago the England captain has begun to drop deeper and at times play that Eriksen role himself. Spurs have not replaced the Dane and have had no attacking influence from midfield since he left, forcing the striker to do it all himself.

Until now. The signing of James Maddison is an absolute game-changer. Giovani Lo Celso was meant to be that Eriksen replacement, however, it never quite worked out. With Maddison, Spurs are getting a Premier League-proven star.

And the 26-year-old could help facilitate Spurs’ record goalscorer’s best season to date. The 29-year-old is clearly at the peak of his scoring powers which was proven by hitting his joint-highest league tally in the worst Tottenham side in years.

Now, with Maddison playing behind him in what promises to be an attacking set-up, there is no reason he can’t better that figure.

As per stats provided by FBREF, last season Kane only received 5.87 progressive passes per 90, which left him in the bottom 50 per cent in regard to this particular statistic compared to his positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues.

Meanwhile, Maddison himself made 5.48 progressive passes per 90, placing him in the top 15 per cent of Europe’s attacking midfielders. What also makes for particularly exciting reading among Spurs fans is the now former Leicester man’s expected assists.

Maddison made 0.34 expected assists per 90 which placed him in the top six per cent of all of Europe’s major leagues’ creative players. At the same time, Kane was outperforming his own expected goals as he scored at a rate of 0.68 goals per 90 while registering an xG of 0.55 per 90. These numbers demonstrate how Maddison and Kane could form a deadly duo.

The only player that came even relatively close to providing a similar quality of chances last season for Spurs was Heung-min Son who had an expected assists total of 0.21 per 90. Midfielders Oliver Skipp, Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg all had expected assists totals of less than 0.10 per 90.

This just further demonstrates how despite receiving very little assistance from those around him during the 2022/23 campaign and playing in a very negative set-up, the quality of Kane still shone through as he was able to score 30 league goals.

With the addition of Maddison, who is certain to bring a higher level of creative output to Spurs’ stagnant midfield, and the implementation of Ange Postecoglou’s attacking system, Kane can hit numbers he has yet to hit next season.

This of course is dependent on if the Englishman sticks around and fans will be desperate for him to do so in order to see just how devastating this link-up could be.

In other Tottenham news, Maddison’s signing represents a win off the pitch as well as on it.