James Maddison has lifted the lid on an exciting vow from Ange Postecoglou that helped convince him to join Tottenham.
The England playmaker was unveiled as Spurs’ third permanent signing of the summer on Wednesday, joining from relegated Leicester for a £40million fee and penning a five-year contract in north London lasting until 2028.
Maddison follows Dejan Kulusevski, who is now a full-time Tottenham player after 18 months on loan from Juventus, and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, a £17m arrival from Serie A side Empoli earlier this week, as the first deals of a fresh era at the club.
The transfer is widely seen as a cut-price coup for Spurs, who had initially been battling with Newcastle for Maddison’s services before their rivals instead turned their attentions to Sandro Tonali at AC Milan.
His creativity, scoring and sheer attacking versatility should be of huge benefit to new Tottenham boss Postecoglou, who has promised to bring an exciting, vibrant brand of football back to N17 next season after agreeing to leave Scottish treble winners Celtic to become Antonio Conte’s long-term successor earlier this month.
And in his first interview as a Spurs player, Maddison spoke of the renewed ambition he could sense at the club and revealed a promising assurance made to him by Postecoglou that clearly struck a cord.
“I feel a hunger about the place,” he told the official Tottenham website. “You come here, and you get a feel for the club and the people, everything about it, and it feels brilliant. Like I said, I’m very happy and can’t wait to get going.
“I spoke to the manager, spoke to [chairman] Daniel [Levy] and they both spoke very highly of everything about the club.
“Speaking to the manager was very important, how he’s going to be, with that little bit of the unknown, so to have a decent chat with him and to get his thoughts on things, how he sees Spurs going this season... he said one thing to me on the call, I hope he won’t mind me saying this, but he said, ‘whether you come or not, you’re going to see a completely different Spurs team under me’, and that kind of stuck with me that he said that.
“Things like that are so important, building a good relationship with him, with Daniel, speaking to other players, obviously, I know a lot of them anyway, and playing against them for so many years, I feel like I have such a good understanding with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and now I’m part of it, and I have this lovely white shirt on, I’m ready to go.”
Maddison’s move to Spurs is a transfer some eight years in the making, with Tottenham twice having considered his signature in the past.
Now he has finally made the switch, the former Coventry and Norwich midfielder is ready to hit the ground running and impress his new fanbase.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” he said. “That feeling of being a Spurs player now is something I’m very excited about.
“It feels really good, even putting on the white shirt, the iconic Tottenham shirt, having a look in the mirror... it feels really good. Myself, my agent, my family are all really happy with my decision. As I keep saying, I can’t wait to get going.”
