Done Deal 28.06.2023 - 22:13 | source: Transfermarkt/Sky Sports | Reading Time: 3 mins

€46m move

Postecoglou's new No.10 - Why Maddison may end up being an incredible signing for Tottenham

Postecoglou new No.10 - Why Maddison may end up being an incredible signing for Tottenham

©Imago/Content stadium

New Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has made his first major attacking signing of the summer window. On Wednesday, Tottenham confirmed the signing of Leicester City midfielder James Maddison. Although the North London club have already spent the best part of €100 million on goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario (€20m signing from Empoli) as well as finalising permanent deals for Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski, Maddison is undoubtedly the transfer that will get fans excited.

According to Sky Sports, Tottenham have paid €46.3m for Maddison, which will make the attacking midfielder Leicester’s fifth most expensive sale in the club’s history and Tottenham’s fourth most expensive signing ever. So why are Postecoglou and his new club so keen on signing Maddison?

How good is James Maddison?

Having pursued Maddison for a number of years, Tottenham clearly felt that now was the right time to finally sign the player following Leicester’s relegation from the Premier League. And there’s little doubt that they could end up getting the player for a relative bargain if his €40m transfer fee is indeed true. Because not only is Maddison an excellent player, but he’s also exactly what Postecoglou’s Tottenham squad desperately need to get back to the top four next season.

With 10 goals and nine assists in 30 league games last season, Maddison was not only one of the best players in the Premier League for goal contributions but also outplayed most attacking midfielders across the English top-flight. For example, according to Opta the 26-year-old talent was second only to Kevin de Bruyne and Martin Ødegaard for assists, fourth among attacking midfielders for key passes and seventh for through balls. An impressive feat when you consider he spent the entire season in an extremely dysfunctional team.

Maddison table

However, Maddison isn’t just a player that can pull the strings. As his 10 goals for the season suggests, the midfielder is also a clear goal threat. And that was evident through the manner in which he was second only to Eberechi Eze for attempts on goal from set pieces, fifth among central midfielders for goals inside the box, third for goals outside the box as well as finishing fourth for shots on target.

All 100 nominees for the Golden Boy 2023

Jude Bellingham | Borussia Dortmund | England | Market value: €120M

1/100

Jamal Musiala | Bayern Munich | Germany | Market value: €110M

2/100

Gavi | Barcelona | Spain | Market value: €90M

3/100

Florian Wirtz | Leverkusen | Germany | Market value: €85M

4/100

Alejandro Balde | Barcelona | Spain | Market value: €50M

5/100

António Silva | Benfica | Portugal | Market value: €45M

6/100

Rasmus Højlund | Atalanta Bergamo | Denmark | Market value: €45M

7/100

Giorgio Scalvini | Atalanta Bergamo | Italy | Market value: €40M

8/100

Harvey Elliott | Liverpool | England | Market value: €35M

9/100

Roméo Lavia | Southampton | Belgium | Market value: €32M

10/100

Evan Ferguson | Brighton | Ireland | Market value: €30M

11/100

Youssoufa Moukoko | Borussia Dortmund | Germany | Market value: €30M

12/100

Xavi Simons | PSV Eindhoven | Netherlands | Market value: €30M

13/100

Levi Colwill | Brighton | England | Market value: €30M

14/100

Rayan Cherki | Olympique Lyon | France | Market value: €27M

15/100

Alejandro Garnacho | Manchester United | Argentina | Market value: €25M

16/100

Elye Wahi | Montpellier | France | Market value: €25M

17/100

Benjamin Sesko | RB Salzburg | Slovenia | Market value: €24M

18/100

Julio Enciso | Brighton | Paraguay | Market value: €22M

19/100

Rico Lewis | Manchester City | England | Market value: €20M

20/100

Mathys Tel | Bayern Munich | France | Market value: €20M

21/100

Warren Zaïre-Emery | PSG | France | Market value: €18M

22/100

Wilfried Gnonto | Leeds | Italy | Market value: €18M

23/100

Arthur Vermeeren | Royal Antwerp | Belgium | Market value: €17M

24/100

Désiré Doué | Rennes | France | Market value: €15M

25/100

Arda Güler | Fenerbahce | Turkey | Market value: €15M

26/100

Carney Chukwuemeka | Chelsea | England | Market value: €15M

27/100

Fabio Miretti | Juventus | Italy | Market value: €15M

28/100

Arnau Martínez | Girona | Spain | Market value: €15M

29/100

Tommaso Baldanzi | Empoli | Italy | Market value: €15M

30/100

Martin Baturina | Dinamo Zagreb | Croatia | Market value: €15M

31/100

Arsen Zakharyan | Dynamo Moscow | Russia | Market value: €15M

32/100

Jamie Bynoe-Gittens | Borussia Dortmund | England | Market value: €14M

33/100

Maurits Kjaergaard | RB Salzburg | Denmark | Market value: €13M

34/100

Bilal El Khannouss | KRC Genk | Morocco | Market value: €13M

35/100

Stefan Bajcetic | Liverpool | Spain | Market value: €13M

36/100

Facundo Buonanotte | Brighton | Argentina | Market value: €12M

37/100

Lucas Gourna-Douath | RB Salzburg | France | Market value: €12M

38/100

Mohamed-Ali Cho | Real Sociedad | France | Market value: €12M

39/100

Lewis Hall | Chelsea | England | Market value: €10M

40/100

João Neves | Benfica | Portugal | Market value: €10M

41/100

Ousmane Diomande | Sporting | Ivory Coast | Market value: €10M

42/100

Zeno Debast | RSC Anderlecht | Belgium | Market value: €10M

43/100

Milos Kerkez | AZ Alkmaar | Hungary | Market value: €10M

44/100

Máximo Perrone | Manchester City | Argentina | Market value: €10M

45/100

Bjorn Meijer | Club Brugge | Netherlands | Market value: €10M

46/100

Johan Bakayoko | PSV Eindhoven | Belgium | Market value: €9M

47/100

Samuel Iling Junior | Juventus | England | Market value: €9M

48/100

Robert Renan | Zenit St. Petersburg | Brazil | Market value: €9M

49/100

Saël Kumbedi | Olympique Lyon | France | Market value: €8M

50/100

Kacper Kozlowski | Vitesse | Poland | Market value: €8M

51/100

Lesley Ugochukwu | Rennes | France | Market value: €8M

52/100

Oscar Gloukh | RB Salzburg | Israel | Market value: €8M

53/100

Emanuel Emegha | Sturm Graz | Netherlands | Market value: €8M

54/100

Devyne Rensch | Ajax Amsterdam | Netherlands | Market value: €8M

55/100

El Chadaille Bitshiabu | PSG | France | Market value: €7M

56/100

Andy Diouf | Basel | France | Market value: €7M

57/100

Luca Netz | Borussia Mönchengladbach | Germany | Market value: €6.5M

58/100

Valentín Carboni | Inter | Argentina | Market value: €5M

59/100

Isaak Touré | AJ Auxerre | France | Market value: €5M

60/100

Habib Diarra | Strasbourg | France | Market value: €4M

61/100

Kevin Paredes | Wolfsburg | USA | Market value: €5M

62/100

Matías Soulé | Juventus | Argentina | Market value: €4M

63/100

Hugo Larsson | Malmö | Sweden | Market value: €4M

64/100

Arne Engels | Augsburg | Belgium | Market value: €3.5M

65/100

Viktor Melekhin | Rostov | Russia | Market value: €3.5M

66/100

Matija Frigan | HNK Rijeka | Croatia | Market value: €3.5M

67/100

Ismaël Doukouré | Strasbourg | France | Market value: €3M

68/100

Martin Vitik | Sparta Prague | Czech Republic | Market value: €2.5M

69/100

Christos Zafeiris | Slavia Prague | Norway | Market value: €2.5M

70/100

Ariel Mosor | Piast Gliwice | Poland | Market value: €2M

71/100

Hákon Arnar Haraldsson | Copenhagen | Iceland | Market value: €2M

72/100

Aurèle Amenda | BSC Young Boys | Switzerland | Market value: €2M

73/100

Odin Thiago Holm | Vålerenga | Norway | Market value: €1.7M

74/100

Luka Stojkovic | NK Lokomotiva | Croatia | Market value: €1.5M

75/100

Ernest Nuamah | Nordsjaelland | Ghana | Market value: €1.5M

76/100

Kevin Kelsy | Shakhtar | Venezuela | Market value: €1.2M

77/100

Maksym Dyachuk | Dynamo Kyiv | Ukraine | Market value: €1.2M

78/100

Johan Bangsbo | Göteborg | Sweden | Market value: €1.2M

79/100

Oleksandr Saputin | Zorya Lugansk | Ukraine | Market value: €1M

80/100

William Clem | Copenhagen | Denmark | Market value: €1M

81/100

Elias Jelert | Copenhagen | Denmark | Market value: €1M

82/100

Victor Lind | Norrköping | Denmark | Market value: €900k

83/100

Tim Oermann | Wolfsberger AC | Germany | Market value: €800k

84/100

Veljko Ilic | FK TSC | Serbia | Market value: €800k

85/100

Amane Romeo | BK Häcken | Ivory Coast | Market value: €700k

86/100

Pavlo Isenko | Vorskla Poltava | Ukraine | Market value: €700k

87/100

Ervin Omic | Wolfsberger AC | Austria | Market value: €700k

88/100

Petar Ratkov | FK TSC | Serbia | Market value: €600k

89/100

Noah Persson | BSC Young Boys | Sweden | Market value: €600k

90/100

Mathias Lövik | Molde | Norway | Market value: €600k

91/100

Valdemar Lund | Copenhagen | Denmark | Market value: €600k

92/100

Otto Rosengren | Mjällby AIF | Sweden | Market value: €500k

93/100

Stefan Lekovic | Red Star | Serbia | Market value: €400k

94/100

Lucas Hey | Lyngby BK | Denmark | Market value: €250k

95/100

Alexander Busch | Silkeborg IF | Denmark | Market value: €150k

96/100

Tobias Slotsager | Odense BK | Denmark | Market value: €100k

97/100

Christopher Bonsu Baah | Sarpsborg 08 | Ghana | Market value: €100k

98/100

Filip Sidklev | Brommapojkarna | Sweden | Market value: -

99/100

Marcus Baggesen | Norrköping | Denmark | Market value: -

100/100

In other words, Maddison is a fantastic Premier League No.10. And that should go some way to solving Tottenham’s problems next season. Although Spurs can call upon great goal creators in their wide positions, such as Ivan Perisic, Heung-min Son and Kulusevski, the midfielder with the most assists in the 22/23 campaign was Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg, who managed just five in 35 games and averaged less than half of Maddison’s assists per 90. As such, the England international should plug a major whole in Tottenham's new-look team for next season.

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