James Maddison has completed his £40m move from Leicester to Tottenham.
The England international has agreed terms on a five-year contract and his arrival will come as a major boost for Ange Postecoglou. The new Spurs manager wants to reconfigure his side in an attacking 4-3-3 and signing Maddison, who was unable to prevent Leicester from dropping into the Championship last season, will increase his creative options.
Spurs, who have completed the £17.2m signing of the Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli, have tracked Maddison since he was a youngster at Coventry. They missed out on the attacking midfielder when he moved to Norwich in 2016 and again when he joined Leicester in 2018.
Maddison has remained a target and Spurs emerged as frontrunners in the race to sign the 26-year-old when Newcastle United switched their focus to buying the Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali from Milan last week. Leicester had hoped to receive £60m for Maddison but have been forced to take a lower fee.
Spurs advanced their interest this week and are expected to sell the midfielder Harry Winks to Leicester. Daniel Levy, the Spurs chairman, will hope that signing Maddison lifts the mood around the club after a difficult season. Levy is intent on resisting Bayern Munich’s attempts to sign Harry Kane.
Bayern bid £60m for Kane on Tuesday and the striker wants to join Thomas Tuchel’s side. Spurs are determined not to lose the 29-year-old, even though his contract ends next year, and are unlikely to accept anything less than £100m for the England captain. Kane will regard moving to Bayern as a chance to win the first trophy of his career.
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It is a rebuilding job for Postecoglou, who could play Maddison as an advanced No 8 or as part of his front three. Maddison earned a spot in the England squad for the 2022 World Cup and he has three caps. He contributed 10 goals and nine assists in the Premier League last season.