With Ange Postecoglou looking to build his squad ahead of his first season as Tottenham manager, Leicester City's James Maddison has emerged as a target.
Spurs have been strongly linked with Maddison for several years, but with Leicester being relegated from the Premier League, there hasn't been a better time to sign the England international. Maddison can play both in the middle of midfield and on the right, offering much-needed versatility for Postecoglou's side.
As well as Spurs, Newcastle have been strongly linked with the 26-year-old, with the Magpies able to offer Champions League football. So, if Spurs were to sign Maddison, could the midfielder help Spurs make a return to European football? Let's take a look.
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2023 editor to arrange for Maddison to join the Lilywhites on July 1, 2023, using FM23 to run the simulation. We then simulated the entire 2023/24 season to see how the England international could perform.
An early injury suffered by Dejan Kulusevski saw the Swedish winger miss the majority of the 2023/24 campaign, working in Maddison's favour as the Englishman featured in nearly every game on the right side of the attack. The 26-year-old became a favourite under Postecoglou, but his contribution wasn't as big as many would've hoped.
READ MORE: The 10 Tottenham players who need to impress Ange Postecoglou early in pre-season
In 40 appearances across all competitions, Maddison managed seven goals and six assists whilst averaging a rating of 7.02 per game, the fourth-best out of the Spurs attackers. Harry Kane (26), Heung-Min Son (18) and Troy Parrott (8) all scored more than the Englishman, with Parrott used as a surprise super sub by Postecoglou.
At the end of the 2023/24 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best Spurs XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what Spurs' best XI looked like at the end of the 2023/24 season as predicted by Football Manager 2023:
Full Spurs best XI (4-2-3-1): Raya; Porro, Romero, Dier, Udogie; Hojbjerg, Skipp; Maddison, Bentancur, Son; Kane.
Maddison made the Spurs best XI, starting on the right alongside Rodrigo Bentancur and Son behind Kane. Destiny Udogie made the best XI, whilst David Raya was signed in the simulation to replace the outgoing Hugo Lloris.
With Maddison in the squad, Spurs started the season strongly, with Postecoglou's side actually sitting top of the Premier League table after 10 games. But, a poor second half of the season saw the Lilywhites slip down the table, ending the season in eighth place.
Seven losses in the final 11 games of the season saw Spurs drop out of the Champions League race, with their eighth-place finish securing a spot in the Europa Conference League. 17 wins, seven draws and 14 defeats saw Postecoglou end the campaign on 58 points, missing out on the Champions League places by six points.
Going forward wasn't a problem for Spurs, but they were poor defensively, ending the season with the 12th-best defensive record in the league. Postecoglou's side were unlucky in the cup competitions as well, losing 4-1 on aggregate to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-finals and 2-1 to Aston Villa in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Overall, FM23 predicts that if Maddison moved to Spurs, the Englishman may not be the answer to Spurs' problems, with Postecoglou's side only able to book a spot in the Europa Conference League for the following season. In Kulusevski's absence, the 26-year-old had a decent impact, but not enough to have a major influence on his side.
Would you like to see Spurs sign Maddison? Let us know in the comments!
