One of the sagas surrounding transfers from James Maddison to Newcastle United occurred last year. Therefore, black and white supporters were shocked when the Leicester City playmaker decided to join Tottenham Hotspur rather than a move to St. James’ Park.
The Foxes turned down many offers from Eddie Howe and the Magpies last summer, so their relegation to the Championship appeared like a perfect chance to snag a creative talent for a lower price, similar to what they did when they signed Nick Pope from Burnley. Tottenham spent over £40 million on Maddison, despite the Magpies’ reluctance to spend so much money on a player they did not feel to be a need.
In any case, Anthony Gordon has proven thus far this season that they were wise to sign him for an aggressive midfield position. Ange Postecoglou’s team is now tied for first place in the Premier League going into the international break, but Maddison has been one of Tottenham’s and the Premier League’s standout players since his summer transfer.
Has Newcastle thus fallen for a trick? Alasdair Gold, a Tottenham Hotspur journalist for Football.London, gave Chronicle Live insight into Maddison’s departure and discussed whether Newcastle would have regretted not pursuing the England international.
What was the prevailing opinion at the time Maddison signed?
“That he was the kind of player Spurs had needed but never got since Christian Eriksen started to falter and ultimately left the club,” said Alasdair Gold. Since James Maddison played for Coventry, Tottenham has kept an eye on him. However, for a variety of reasons, they were never able to finalize a deal for him, and others benefited.
“There was general excitement among the Spurs fanbase when he finally joined and that’s only grown with each passing performance.”
Is he disproving the claims that Spurs paid too much, as some have suggested?
AG: “To be honest, he was always viewed as a bargain compared to prior years from the Tottenham end. With only one year remaining on his contract, Leicester and Spurs promptly sealed the deal, keeping the fee at £40 million.
“Tottenham spent more on Brennan Johnson and Micky van de Ven this summer as well as in making Pedro Porro’s loan a permanent one, so Maddison being cheaper than all of them might just be the bargain of the window if they can keep him away from injury.”
How is he doing?
He’s been fantastic, AG. Ange Postecoglou quickly gave him one of the vice-captain positions because he was motivated and vocal at the Spurs transfer at the exact time in his career when he wanted to take on more responsibility and elevate his game.
He is a very well-liked and inspiring teammate off the field, and he has been lethal on it with his ability to dismantle the competition and his strong work ethic. He is constantly working and moving. In his first eight Premier League games, he has already contributed two goals and five assists, and he has repeatedly given his Spurs teammates chances to score.
Has anything particularly noteworthy happened?
The two goals he scored against Bournemouth and Burnley both demonstrated his ability to slink into prime finishing positions, but the best performances thus far have likely been the two assists he provided against Arsenal in the North London Derby at the Emirates.
“Maddison wasn’t fazed by the occasion and he turned Bukayo Saka inside out before setting up Son Hueng-min for Spurs’ first goal and then showed his pressing ability to rob Jorginho and run on before weighting the perfect pass into Son’s path to slot home first time.”
