James Maddison has arguably been the signing of the summer so far.
The attacking midfielder has completely revitalised this Tottenham team, and there is a strong argument to make that he has been Man of the Match in both of Spurs’ games so far.
This is a signing that has been widely praised, and one man who is very happy to see Maddison at Spurs is Glenn Hoddle.
Indeed, speaking on the Kelly & Wrighty Show, Hoddle stated that he’s very happy that Maddison is at Spurs, but, interestingly, he claimed that this was a deal he wanted to happen three years ago.
Hoddle wanted Maddison three years ago
The pundit shared his verdict on the £45m midfielder.
“I wanted him to come to Tottenham as a Spurs man three years ago. To play with Harry Kane, that would’ve been exciting. Who knows where Spurs could’ve gone with that? Unfortunately, he’s come in and Kane has gone, it would have been fascinating to see how they would have linked up. He’s a top player and I think Spurs is a good move for him,” Hoddle said.
Would it have worked?
As much as we love James Maddison as a player, we have to wonder whether or not he’d have been that good at Tottenham if he arrived three years ago.
Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte all played such negative and defensive football, and Maddison really wouldn’t have thrived in any of those teams.
Maddison is at his best when he’s playing with freedom and allowed to play his natural game which involves being a bit of a maverick and playing in an attacking way at all times, but under Spurs’ previous managers, that side of his game would have been stifled.
In our view, Maddison has joined Tottenham at the perfect time.
