Six brilliant James Maddison replacements to target

Tottenham Hotspur are looking concerningly light when it comes to midfield creativity after a serious injury suffered by James Maddison in pre-season and the failure to sign Morgan Gibbs-White.

Maddison was stretchered off in Spurs’ 1-1 friendly draw with Newcastle United in South Korea, leaving Thomas Frank with a major headache ahead of the fast-approaching 2025-26 campaign.

It looks as though the club will have to spend some money to address the issue and we’ve identified six creative midfielders for Tottenham to target in the transfer market.

Maghnes Akliouche

Monaco playmaker Akliouche just seems to get better every season and the time feels right for him to leave his boyhood club to take on a new challenge elsewhere.

A first senior France cap is surely only a matter of time for the 23-year-old, given he was one of the best midfielders in Ligue 1 last term.

He notched five goals and 10 assists for Monaco as they achieved a third-place finish.

Akliouche has shone at various youth levels for Les Bleus and was part of Thierry Henry’s Under-23s that won silver at the 2024 Olympics. The kid has a very bright future.

Xavi Simons

It feels wild that Simons is still only 22 years of age, given he’s been established in Europe for a good while now – after making a name for himself as one to watch at La Masia a decade ago.

As is always the case with such immensely talented prospects, you can’t escape the sense that RB Leipzig is only a stop-gap before bigger and better things.

Chelsea lead the race for the Netherlands international’s signature, but it’s difficult to see exactly where he’d factor in alongside Cole Palmer and their bounty of attacking and creative options.

Tottenham, on the other hand, can offer Simons a clearly defined place in Frank’s first-choice XI – as well as Champions League football.

Twelve years after the Willian hijacking… wouldn’t it feel extra sweet to get one over the Blues?

Mikkel Damsgaard

Frank loves linking up with his Danish compatriots, while Spurs’ reported ill-fated pursuit of Bryan Mbeumo suggests he has no qualms over raiding his old club.

Damsgaard took his time to settle into English football, but he was an absolute revelation last season.

He notched double figures for assists and was constantly creating good goalscoring opportunities for Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa.

Like Maddison, he’s nominally a No.10 but fluid in his movements and position, dropping out wide to drag centre-backs out of position as well as deeper to contribute to build-up.

Brentford can’t afford to lose yet another key player, but from Tottenham’s perspective this would be a no-brainer.

Kamory Doumbia

It’s only been one season since Doumbia moved permanently from Reims to Brest, but the 22-year-old Malian already looks ready for the next step in his career.

He didn’t look out of his depth in the Champions League last season and looks as though he belongs at that level, but Brest failed to land any European football for the upcoming campaign after finishing midtable.

Doumbia’s name has been conspicuously absent from the transfer gossip columns this summer, but we’d be amazed if he doesn’t get a big move in a year or two.

Nico Paz

Outstanding as Cesc Fabregas’ newly-promoted Como punched above their weight to finish in the top half in Serie A last term, it’ll be interesting to see what the immediate future holds for 20-year-old wonderkid Paz.

Former club Real Madrid opted against exercising their staggeringly cheap buyback clause after signing fellow Argentinian wonderkid Franco Mastantuono, although it’s widely reported that they’ll still have the option next summer.

Dealing with Como might not be easy. They rebuffed Inter’s approach to poach Fabregas and given their ambitions, you imagine they’d fight just as hard to keep their star player.

But there could be a unique market opportunity there and Spurs would be daft not to at least ask the question.

Nadiem Amiri

According to FBref’s complex statistical algorithm, the player who is most similar in profile to Maddison over the past 365 days is… Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard.

Ahem. Let’s move on.

Second on that list is Mainz’s Amiri. At 28, the Germany international wouldn’t represent an investment with great resale value, but he’s at the peak of his powers and looks ready to make an instant impact.

Amiri made the 2024-25 Bundesliga Team of the Season and was probably Mainz’s standout player as they pushed for Champions League qualification.

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