James Maddison marked his long-awaited return to action with a heartfelt statement on social media, and Jude Bellingham showed his support with a classy message.
Jude Bellingham has congratulated James Maddison for making his first Premier League appearance in over a year. The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, who ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a pre-season friendly back in August, was brought off the bench towards the end of Monday night's draw to Leeds United.
With five minutes on the clock and the Lilywhites in search of a winner, Maddison replaced Mathys Tel. Then, the fourth official announced there to be a minimum of 13 added minutes, turning what was meant to be a brief cameo into almost 20 minutes of end-to-end chaos.
Despite the England international's best efforts, he couldn't fire Spurs to victory. After the game, Maddison marked his return to action with a heartfelt statement on social media, thanking the fans, friends, and family for the support.
On Instagram, the 29-year-old wrote: "After the longest, toughest 12 months of my life, the reception you spurs fans gave me yesterday made all the sacrifice & dark days absolutely worth it. Thank you so much.
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"Back where I belong. Thank you to everyone for the support & especially my family & friends for helping me through this journey, wouldn’t have been able to do it without you."
Over a hundred thousand people 'liked' the post, including the likes of Marcus Rashford, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Son Heung-min. Bellingham was one of over a thousand to also leave a comment, writing: "[five red love heart emojis] love it."
Speaking to reporters after the game, Roberto De Zerbi showered Maddison with praise. The Tottenham boss said: "It's great news for us. He is a different player as a quality, as a guy and he will be I hope crucial for us.
"Yesterday I spoke with him about his physical condition, about how many minutes he could play. He played more than what he said yesterday. We are happy for him, but I think we are in the right way."
In what was Maddison's first Premier League appearance since April 27, 2025, when Spurs lost 5-1 to Liverpool at Anfield, he only managed to take home a point, leaving his side in danger of falling into the bottom three.
De Zerbi continued: "It will be tough until the last minute against Everton, for sure, but after the Sunderland game, it was a difficult to imagine ourselves before the last two games to stay up (ahead) two points of West Ham.
"I remember very well the game in Sunderland was my first game and we can’t forget what was the situation just 15 days ago. We can’t forget after four games in a row we made eight points and we can’t forget Leeds the last defeat in Premier League was the 1st of March at home, I think.
"West Ham they have to also play Leeds at home. I think Leeds they will play like today with the same spirit, with the same qualities because they are doing a great season."