Son Heung-min’s final game for Tottenham Hotspur exposed how elite sport can be simultaneously beautiful and brutal.
There were around 60,000 fans inside the Seoul World Cup Stadium for Spurs’ friendly against Newcastle United on August 3. They cheered every time Son touched the ball and booed when a goal he ‘scored’ was disallowed for offside. The South Korea forward was given a guard of honour by both teams when he was substituted in the second half and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
A few moments later, the mood turned sombre. Shortly after coming off the bench, James Maddison went down in pain following a collision with Newcastle winger Anthony Elanga. Maddison suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in his right knee and had to be stretchered off the pitch. He was consoled in the dressing room by Rodrigo Bentancur, who suffered the same injury in February 2023.
After the game, Son cried in the tunnel as he said goodbye to Tottenham’s squad. Journalists captured his tears and the flash from their cameras illuminated a hooded figure walking behind him on crutches. It turned out to be Maddison’s last appearance until his emotional comeback in Monday’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
“It goes back to the Europa League semi-final when I got injured here because I did a partial ACL tear (in the same knee) against Bodo/Glimt,” Maddison, 29, told a group of reporters, including The Athletic, after his cameo against Leeds. “I was told by the (external) specialist it wouldn’t need surgery and rehab. Then obviously it wasn’t strong, it didn’t recover properly and I needed the full surgery, which is what happened in South Korea. So in my head, it’s been longer.
“But that being said, the reception I got today was an amazing moment that will live with me forever. There have been some dark days in the last year, especially since the surgery. It has been a really tough year mentally but I’m at the end of the tunnel, so I can kind of look back on that with fondness because I’m as mentally strong as I can be after going through that.”
There were 375 days between the first leg of last season’s Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt and the draw with Leeds. It has been a long road to recovery for Maddison, filled with ups and downs.
Maddison missed the Europa League final in Bilbao last May, but he was still at the centre of Spurs’ celebrations.
At full time, he ran onto the pitch in a suit and embraced Son. He sang Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond and performed a duet with comedian Michael McIntyre at the after-party.
Maddison worked on his fitness throughout the summer and did not feature in any pre-season games until Spurs flew to Hong Kong and South Korea. He mainly focused on individual drills with strength-and-conditioning coaches, while head coach Thomas Frank, who replaced Ange Postecoglou in June, worked with the core squad.
The playmaker ran up and down the touchline with a resistance band wrapped around him during the north London derby against Arsenal in Hong Kong and then replaced Pape Matar Sarr for the final few minutes. Maddison came on midway through the second half against Newcastle but lasted 10 minutes before dropping to the floor in pain.
When he returned from tour, he visited the Fortius Clinic in central London. Andy Williams, the founder of Fortius, is a knee specialist who, according to Bupa, performs around 100 ACL reconstructions each year, and the majority of his patients are professional athletes. Williams’ office contains signed shirts from other sports stars he has operated on, including Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, Aston Villa’s Tammy Abraham and England’s European Championship winner Lucy Bronze. Williams also helped Spurs full-back Destiny Udogie recover from a knee problem last summer.
Maddison set up a YouTube channel to document his recovery and in one of the videos, he discusses the injury with Williams.
“You did nothing wrong,” Williams said. “If I saw your scans originally, I would have treated you the same way. I have these scenarios every month or two and usually you get away with it but not always.”
Maddison underwent surgery on August 12 and went home the following day, where he watched his team-mates lose the European Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain in a penalty shootout. He visited the training ground a couple of days later, just before Spurs’ first Premier League game of the season against Burnley, to discuss his recovery process with medical lead Nick Stubbings and doctor Tamim Khanbhai.
The expectation was that Maddison was unlikely to feature at all during the 2025-26 campaign and they did not set any firm targets for a return. Maddison’s approach was the opposite of Dejan Kulusevski after he underwent surgery on his patella (kneecap) last May. In September, Frank said Kulusevski was “hopefully not too far away,” and there was “a good chance” he could return before the end of 2025. Kulusevski has not played a single competitive minute this season and on Tuesday was left out of Sweden’s World Cup squad.
Recovery for Maddison was initially all about rest. Rebuilding strength in his leg muscles required regular gym exercises with lead rehab physio Richard Clark, including walking on an anti-gravity treadmill, deadlifts, box jumps, split squats with weights, balancing drills and running on a small trampoline.
“It’s actually quite simple rehab, it’s just a real grind. It’s long and it’s hard,” Maddison said after Leeds. “I just had to do the work. There are no corners cut.
“There was never any doubt about getting back. Some tough days mentally to do the work when the light at the end of the tunnel is just not in sight but we are there now. I’m really grateful for the physios who worked with me.”
In October, Frank named Maddison in his leadership group because of his ability to connect with people. Maddison has strong relationships with his team-mates, including Djed Spence and Archie Gray. He bonded with Radu Dragusin, who injured an ACL in January 2025 and was further ahead in his recovery. Maddison is now providing the same support to Wilson Odobert, who ruptured an ACL in February.
He whiled away the hours by playing online football trivia game Contextinho with January signing Souza and reconditioning coach Matthew Bickley. When Maddison was allowed outside with a ball, he regularly trained with academy players, including Callum Olusesi, Luca Williams-Barnett and James Rowswell before joining the senior squad. One source close to the dressing room, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, described him as a “good guy who likes to have fun”.
Maddison’s ability to impact the team without playing was recognised by Frank’s successor, Roberto De Zerbi. The new head coach named him in the matchday squad on multiple occasions over the last few weeks, despite admitting he was unlikely to feature, because he “is a positive guy inside my dressing room”.
YouTube was not the only distraction from the gruelling recovery process. Maddison appeared at the Leaders Conference in October to discuss how he uses social media. At the end of the month, he welcomed newborn twins Jensen and Frankie with his partner, Kennedy. A few weeks later, he was on the touchline to support Dragusin as he made his comeback in a behind-closed-doors match at Tottenham’s training ground.
In December, Maddison appeared on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football show to provide analysis of Manchester United’s 4-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers and starred in the broadcaster’s advert for the 2026 Darts World Championship. There was a family holiday to Dubai and a trip to Cheltenham Festival. In February, he invited Harley, a young fan who suffers with a rare genetic condition, to a Spurs game and presented him with a signed shirt at half-time.
He visited a biomechanics centre in Manchester where sensors were stuck all over his body to assess the strength of his knee. During the March international break, England trained at Spurs’ training ground and Maddison was briefly reunited with Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice.
There were lots of difficult moments, though. The average recovery timeline for an ACL rupture is eight and a half months, drastically reducing Maddison’s chances of playing for England at the upcoming World Cup. Maddison was in Gareth Southgate’s squad at the last tournament in Qatar but did not get on the pitch. He was overlooked for the European Championship in 2024 and has not been called up by Southgate’s successor, Thomas Tuchel. Maddison knew even if he returned before the end of the season, forcing his way into Tuchel’s plans was unlikely, given the fierce competition in attacking midfield.
Spurs started brightly under Frank but limp defeats to Chelsea, Arsenal and Fulham in November eroded his authority. They crashed out of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in the third round and fourth round. Frank was sacked in February after a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle.
Igor Tudor replaced Frank but only lasted seven games. De Zerbi’s arrival has changed Spurs’ fortunes but they remain only two points above the relegation zone with two games remaining. Spurs have taken 13 points from 18 games in 2026, the second-worst record in the division behind Burnley (nine). Maddison registered nine goals and seven assists during the 2024-25 season and Spurs have sorely missed his creativity.
“You watch through a lens of, ‘What would I be doing? What could I do differently?,’ Maddison said this week. “It’s been a tough season for Tottenham, a season to forget. Not being able to affect it and help the club has been difficult.”
There have been a few highs. Away victories against Manchester City, Leeds, Everton and Aston Villa are proving valuable. They finished fourth in the Champions League’s league phase. Missing out on those moments and the camaraderie of being with his team-mates has not been easy. Maddison praised his family, the players and the club’s staff for helping him navigate “the dark days”.
“Sometimes you just have to deal with (it) yourself,” he said. “Some of the worst days are when we have had highs — when the team are away winning (in) the Champions League and you’re just not a part of it. That is tough as well.”
At the end of March, Tudor publicly hinted Maddison could feature before the end of the season but there was still some caution. The day before Maddison was included in the squad for April’s draw with Brighton & Hove Albion, De Zerbi insisted, “I don’t know,” when asked about the midfielder’s potential return. The head coach added, “I don’t want push too much because we lost Mohammed Kudus in this way.” Maddison did not warm up against Brighton but his presence gave his team-mates and the crowd a lift.
Ripples of cheers broke out on Monday when different sections of the crowd realised Maddison started warming up on the touchline. They turned into a roar when he replaced Mathys Tel in the 85th minute. Leeds’ head coach Daniel Farke worked with Maddison at Norwich City and shook the midfielder’s hand before he came onto the pitch.
Maddison received a standing ovation and had an immediate impact. He arguably should have earned a penalty following a challenge from Lukas Nmecha in stoppage time. At the end of the game, Maddison applauded the South Stand and was embraced by his team-mates.
“Once the first minute had gone by, it was like, ‘Now I’m on the pitch we need to get a winner here’,” Maddison said. “The nice moment had gone. It was almost straight to business. I would rather (we) be safe, come on and enjoy and build up slowly, but that’s not the situation we are in. When you are on the pitch, you forget about anything else, the adrenaline kicks in. When you get your first touch, it’s just another game and I felt really good.”
Joao Palhinha described Maddison’s return as “amazing”.
“We really missed him,” Palhinha added. “Not just on the pitch but also in the dressing room. He is a top player. He also knows that he is a special player for everyone.”
It has been a miserable season for Spurs and Maddison but a crucial contribution against Chelsea or Everton to help avoid relegation would be a nice conclusion. If Spurs avoid the drop, then Maddison, who has two years left on his contract, should be key to De Zerbi’s long-term plans.
Additional reporting: Jack Pitt-Brooke, Elias Burke