Team news | From Zerbi ‘thinking about’ Maddison, remains a maybe

Roberto De Zerbi admitted he’s ‘enthusiastic about’ James Maddison however is cautious about dashing him again to match motion following his long-term knee harm.

Our quantity 10 returned to full coaching final month and has been included within the final three matchday squads as an unused substitute because of his expertise and significance inside the group.

Madders hasn’t featured competitively in a Spurs shirt since our Europa League semi-final first leg in opposition to Bodo/Glimt on 1 May 2025 earlier than sadly rupturing their Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) throughout pre-season tour forward of this marketing campaign.

After a lengthy spell on the sidelines and given the depth and rhythm of the Premier League, our Head Coach was nonetheless not sure whether or not the inventive expertise was bodily prepared for match motion forward of Leeds United on Monday (kick-off 8pm UK) however has been impressed by his qualities in coaching.

“I’m enthusiastic about James Maddison as a result of I’m watching a prime, prime participant,” admitted Roberto, speaking in his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon.

“Maybe he’s not ready yet to play, but as a physical condition, for the rhythm, for the intensity of the game. We are playing in the Premier League, the most difficult league in terms of intensity and rhythm but, as a player, he’s great. As a coach watching one player like this, especially for me because I was a number 10 and I’m sensitive in number 10 players like Xavi Simons, Maddison, (Dejan) Kulusevski and (Mohammed) Kudus we have a lot of number 10, but I want to see.”

Elsewhere, our Head Coach revealed when he expects Dominic Solanke to return in addition to an replace on Guglielmo Vicario.