James Maddison (Getty Images)
According to a report from the Daily Mirror, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is willing to spend big on Leicester City star James Maddison.
The 22-year-old had a superb first season in the Premier League after joining the Foxes from Norwich City last summer. He racked up seven goals and as many assists in the 2018/19, as Leicester finished ninth in the table.
And James Maddison’s creative displays haven’t gone unnoticed, with Tottenham now planning a bid for the midfielder. The report claim Spurs could get a decent chunk of their £72million Champions League money to spend on transfers.
Pochettino’s side have reached the Champions League final where they’ll face Liverpool in Madrid at the start of next month. The Argentinean tactician is expected to be backed this time around in the transfer window after Tottenham failed to sign any players in the last two transfer windows.
Spurs were firmly in the Premier League title race this past season before a host of injuries and poor form of key players saw them slip out in March. Failure to realistically challenge for the title again documented the team’s lack of squad depth. If Pochettino is to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for the title next term, he’ll need to beef up his squad at any cost.
There’s a growing uncertainty over Christian Eriksen, who has just a year left in his contract. The Dane has been strongly linked with a big-money move to Real Madrid for months and the fact that the classy playmaker still hasn’t inked a new contract at Tottenham makes it very likely his future lies elsewhere. Even if he doesn’t move to Real Madrid, it’s very unlikely that Spurs will allow him to run down his contract in north London.
Eriksen would be a big loss if he left Tottenham for Madrid but Pochettino has to be realistic here and take futuristic decisions. As the 27-year-old is in the final year of his contract, it would make sense for the Spurs boss to cash in on him and reinvest the money in signing James Maddison.
Maddison seems an ideal fit for Tottenham’s style of play and he would be a great replacement for Eriksen. The England international can play anywhere along the front-line, but he is at his sublime best when deployed in the no.10 role.
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Given his distribution skills, movement, vision and set-piece prowess, the 22-year-old would undoubtedly boost Pochettino’s attacking ranks, whilst adding depth to the squad.
Pochettino has a great record when it comes to improving young players and Maddison is a gem of a talent. The Englishman may not duplicate Eriksen’s success immediately, but he has the quality and potential to grow into a world-class attacking midfielder in time.