England international. Assist-maker. Set piece-taker extraordinaire.
It’s easy to see why Tottenham forked out £40 million for James Maddison – a relative snip of a price when you consider that, at the age of 26, the midfielder is perhaps entering his prime years.
Leicester City’s loss – they had to cash in on their star asset after the relegation – is very much Spurs’ gain, while Maddison himself looks set to cash in handsomely too.
On the Up
At 40/1 in the betting odds on the Premier League, it’s clear that it would be a huge shock if Tottenham were to out-point the likes of favourites Manchester City (4/6), Arsenal (5/1) and Liverpool (15/2).
But odds of 3/1 about Spurs securing a top-four finish suggest that’s not out of the question, which would mean that Maddison could add Champions League football to his increasingly impressive CV.
His bank balance is enjoying a boost, too. The player is taking home a reported £170,000 a week as part of his Tottenham contract, which works out to be the best part of £9 million a year. Factor in other performance-related and team bonuses and it’s clear that Maddison’s net worth will be enhanced significantly by his move to the capital.
Madders settling in 🥰 pic.twitter.com/DWe7QnHIrs
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 12, 2023
It’s thought that the England international earned around £5.7 million a year at Leicester City, where job satisfaction was at an all-time low following the club’s relegation to the Championship at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
Tottenham, meanwhile, are in a state of transition with Ange Postecoglou revealed as the club’s new manager. He has previously favoured an offensive style of play at Japanese club Yokohama Marinos and Celtic, which will please the attack-minded Maddison – his potential link-up with Son Heung-min and Harry Kane could be a sight to behold.
Even if they only finish fifth or sixth, Maddison will enjoy more success on the pitch at Tottenham than he did at Leicester and almost double his money too – that’s the kind of move we can get behind.
The Right Call
It’s known that Maddison had other suitors than just Tottenham, leaving him with a big decision to make after leaving Leicester.
And the playmaker has revealed that it was a phone call from Postecoglou that convinced him that Spurs was the club for him.
Maddison confirmed that he spoke to the Greek head coach and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy before making his decision, with a few choice words of ‘self-belief’ from Postecoglou sealing the deal.
“He said, ‘whether you come or not, you’re going to see a completely different Spurs team under me’, and that kind of stuck with me that he said that,” Maddison confirmed, detailing that it was Postecoglou’s self-belief in his methods that struck a chord with him.
Tottenham will inherit the talents of a player with 43 Premier League goals and many more assists to his name, with his performances even in a losing team at Leicester enough to secure Maddison a call-up to England’s 2022 World Cup squad.
If Postecoglou can help his new man elevate his game to an even higher level, Spurs have got a bargain on their hands.