Tottenham defeated Bodo Glimt 3-1 in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals, but they lost an important player in the process. James Maddison suffered a knee injury that initially didn't appear serious, but, now, scans have revealed more damage than initially thought. The England international will miss three months in total, according to a report from BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel.
The injury now puts Maddison at risk of missing the preseason of the 2025/26 season, in addition to missing the remaining matches of the 2024/25 campaign. So not only won't Maddison, Spurs best player right now, be able to help the team win the Europa League, but he could also have lingering effects into the next season.
Now the good news is, per Mokbel, Maddison won't need surgery on his knee. But it's still a bad enough injury that we are talking about a timescale of months and not weeks. Tottenham have been hit hard by injuries this season again, and Maddison's knee issue is actually the second season-ender to close the campaign; Tottenham are also without young star Lucas Bergvall for the final weeks and the Europa League title chase.
James Maddison is important to Tottenham
Maddison has been vital to Tottenham this season, scoring big goals and recording match-winning assists in important games. The former Leicester City man is second on the team with nine goals and second on the team with seven assists in the Premier League season, so that's a lot of goals left on the table for a team that can be very streaky when it comes to that.
Long-term, Tottenham can't afford Maddison to have any aggravations or negative impact of this injury, because he is their main creative influence. Maddison is vital to the team from a chance-creation and ball progression perspective both in the midfield and in the attacking third. He also has the technical quality to score goals from range, and that's going to be of value to Tottenham, regardless of who the next manager is or what system they play.
In the prime of his career at the age of 28, let's hope Maddison has a full recovery and can get back in time for the 2025/26 Premier League season without missing any games for Tottenham. It's difficult to imagine where Spurs would be this season if it weren't for the 21 starts and 31 total appearances Maddison was able to give to the team.