“It’s not what you are thinking”: Tottenham Hotspur provides a worrying update on James Maddison availability for Man City clash after training return.
For the first time in nearly three months, James Maddison could be back in action for Tottenham. Spurs’ creative genius has been absent since the disastrous 4-1 defeat to Chelsea after picking up an ankle injury back in early November which brought Ange Postecoglou’s dream start in north London to a grinding halt.
In that London derby, Micky van de Ven also suffered a serious injury with his return coming in the recent 2-2 draw away to Manchester United. Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were also sent off in the heated clash which saw the Lilywhites go on to lose three of their next four games.
Despite recent injury worries, Udogie and Romero are now back in the team and the potential return of Maddison could not come at a better time. Postecoglou is already missing three key players with club captain Son Heung-min at the Asia Cup with South Korea while Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr are representing Mali and Senegal respectively at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Giovani Lo Celso, who has been one of the replacements for Maddison, is also out with an injury while Dejan Kulusevski missed the four-goal thriller at Old Trafford. The Sweden international’s absence was due to an illness that went through the Tottenham camp earlier this month and is therefore expected to be available for the tantalising FA Cup fourth round tie against Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And Maddison could be another name back in the matchday squad with his return to full team training coming in the build-up to the cup tie. Last Friday is said to be the day the England international completed his first full session at Hotspur Way with his team-mates since November and his return has got numerous Spurs fans excited.
However, it must be stressed that Maddison could still miss out against the FA Cup holders. Postecoglou has thus far chosen to not reveal whether he could return from injury for this weekend’s game.
Rodrigo Bentancur, like Maddison, picked up an ankle injury in November with the initial timeline suggesting he may not be back until February. He made an early return, starting the December 31 clash against Bournemouth. Ahead of the Man United game, Postecoglou said it was unlikely Romero would be fit to feature, only for the Argentina international to play the full 90 minutes.
Both decisions certainly came as a shock to many, including the teams facing Spurs which would certainly appear as the main reason for Postecoglou’s enigmatic approach. However, there has been a clear difference in what has been said and posted about Maddison in comparison to how the returns of Bentancur and Romero were treated.
A WhatsApp rumour was the only leak of an extremely early return for Bentancur while a video of the players arriving in Manchester was the hint dropped that Romero would feature. But for Maddison, his return to training has been plastered all over social media which, based on how previous returns have been handled, suggests a limited role for Friday night’s clash.
An absence of 12 weeks is also very different to the month or so of game time missed by Romero and Bentancur. Nonetheless, just having Maddison either back in the matchday squad or on the brink of returning will likely come as a major morale boost to give the Lilywhites the belief, along with the fact Man City are yet to score at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, that they can beat Pep Guardiola’s side on Friday evening.
