James Maddison could prove to be Tottenham’s secret weapon in their quest to keep Harry Kane this summer as Bayern Munich continue to turn the screw in their relentless pursuit of the England captain. Despite face-to-face discussions with the Bavarian giants in London last week, Daniel Levy remains reluctant to sanction the departure of Tottenham’s all-time record goal-scorer this summer – even if he risks losing Kane on a free transfer in the summer of 2024 when Premier League rivals could pounce.
While Kane is understood to have received a big-money contract proposal from Tottenham, Levy will also be cautious that any decision on the striker’s future will stem far beyond a lucrative salary. The club must also convince their greatest-ever player that he can win trophies in north London under Ange Postecoglou.
The £40million acquisition of Maddison is viewed as a signing that can further bolster Kane’s impeccable goal output this season and the initial signs in Perth during the pre-season friendly opener against West Ham were promising despite the prospect of potential defeat.
Kane was undeniably a one-man band at Spurs last term as he hit the 30-goal mark in the Premier League for the second time in his illustrious career despite an eighth-place finish.
And if he is to see out the final year of his deal, he must now be salivating at the prospect of teaming up with a natural creator who displays an immaculate eye for a pass – something Spurs have been so desperately lacking.
Despite trailing 2-0 inside the opening 25 minutes at the Optus Stadium, it was clear Maddison’s vision and creativity had immediately injected new life and excitement into Tottenham’s attack as they harvested a cluster of notable chances from various passages of play.
While defensive frailties must still be addressed in the transfer market as talks continue for Edmond Tapsoba and Micky van de Ven, the balance and fluidity in the final third was a far-cry from the painfully robotic football on display last season under Antonio Conte and Ryan Mason, respectively.
The 26-year-old Leicester attacking midfielder is an arrival that will enable Spurs supporters to fall back in love with their team again and Maddison is destined to help bring the best out of misfiring wide forwards Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski.
Both have been short of confidence but with Maddison now penetrating the centre of the field behind Kane, defences will inevitably struggle to contend with the runs of Tottenham’s attackers who can now get off the touchline.
Tottenham’s previous rigid 3-4-3 system was heavily reliant on overlaps and crosses into the box and outside of Kane, nobody else had the desire to break lines. Now they are a threat in transition with Maddison, who shows for the ball at any given opportunity.
He has the ability to draw in defenders, the quality to feed the ball into the vacated space and the delivery to wreak havoc in the opposition box.
It has not taken Maddison long to establish his authority within Postecoglou’s set-up, having also picked up the ball for both free-kicks and corners before he was substituted at half-time. A set-piece specialist is something Tottenham have been missing since the days of Christian Eriksen, who ironically became renowned for hitting the first man during the final stretches of his time in north London.
They now have another focal point and creative hub to build the team around which could also finally spell an end to Kane’s frustrating tendencies to drop deep in pursuit of service.
Maddison can also operate as a No.8, a role he carried out in the opening exchanges of the game in a bid to create overloads on the left-hand flank with full-back Sergio Reguilon.
This was only a glimpse of what could be to come from Maddison at Tottenham with Postecoglou’s players also adapting to the change of system and style as they move from a back-three to back-four.
Kane’s future will ultimately be determined by Bayern Munich’s financial muscle in transfer negotiations but the £40m coup of Maddison is certainly strengthening Levy’s hand.
Tie into that the fact Leicester have also purchased Harry Winks for £10m and Tottenham have effectively sealed a bargain. Maddison is a £60m player virtually acquired for half of that price.
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