talkSPORT

Three Nottingham Forest stars, a teenage sensation and a centre-back who moonlighted as a winger.

These are some of the selections from our talkSPORT pundits as they revealed who they chose as their Underrated Player of the Season.

In this instalment of our awards series, it's all about the stars who deserved the spotlight this season but never quite got it all to themselves.

But in saying that, some of these stars certainly caught the attention of bigger clubs as a handful are poised to move on to bigger and better.

Before we reveal the selections, find out who Ally McCoist, Jeff Stelling and Andy Townsend named in their Team of the Season here.

The talkSPORT team also named their Player of the Season, although there was an almost-unanimous verdict on who received that award.

But there was far less uniformity when it came to their Manager of the Season.

Without further ado, here's who our talkSPORT presenters named as the Underrated Player of the Season!

His feats could not go unnoticed at the end of the season given he kept the equal-most clean sheets, but Charlie Baker was left in awe of Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.

"I think he's been absolutely amazing," Baker said.

"Save after save after save.

"Every time he plays, it's like he's playing in some FA Cup game and having a brilliant game.

"He makes all these brilliant saves and when they've got to hit people on the break, he does that as well."

For Paul Hawksbee, he couldn't go past a teenager who enjoyed a true breakout season.

Although Tottenham's injury crisis over the course of the campaign cruelled their hopes of a top-half finish, it allowed their young talents to feature far more than they'd have anticipated.

It was a trial by fire, but for Lucas Bergvall, it was one Hawksbee certainly felt he passed.

"Got more time than he would have doen because of all the many injuries and has really stood up," Hawksbee said.

"He missed the end of the season which is a shame, through injury of course. But what a player.

"He's such a good player. In a bad team, he has really stood out."

Leicester City may have been relegated, but for Andy Jacobs, he had a soft spot for goalkeeper Mads Hermansen, who made the seventh-most saves among the Premier League's glovemen this term.

"I think he's had a brilliant season and is a great goalkeeper playing behind a terrible defence," Jacobs said.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see him at a top club next season."

As for Darren Bent, he proved he's still a true member of the striker's union with his selection.

"I'm going Chris Wood," Bent said.

"20 Premier League goals, he's 33 years old as well.

"He's partly responsible for why Nottingham Forest have had the season they've had."

Andy Goldstein did little to hide his Manchester United bias with his selection, as he went for perhaps the boldest shout of the lot.

"I've gone for Harry Maguire," Goldstein said.

"Got a lot of stick, wasn't even part of the first team at United.

"Stuck him up front, he scores a goal. We stick him on the wing, he's like Ronaldinho. He can do no wrong.

"His time at Man United was done. He's come back, a stalwart at centre-half."

As for Andy Townsend, his eye was caught by a winger who shot to prominence and has since been linked with a big-money move to Manchester United.

"Antoine Semenyo, I really, really like him," Townsend said.

I think he's a good player, I really do.

"I can see him popping up somewhere at a team pushing for the top six.

"They would rate him highly down there [in Bournemouth], but across the country, a lot of other fans may not be quite so aware of absolutely everything he does."

Ally McCoist, a former forward himself, followed Bent's suit in terms of sticking with the striker's union.

But he also was a big fan of another certain Forest star that has caught the eye of Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.

"I think [Morgan] Gibbs-White and Chris Wood have been absolutely fantastic," McCoist said.

"In terms of the seasons that both those boys and Forest have had, amazing. Absolutely amazing."

Former Liverpool and Tottenham sporting director Damien Comolli is set to be announced in the same role at Juventus.

The French executive has already made his Toulouse goodbye official, and now Sky Italia report that Juve will confirm his signing in the coming days.

The name comes as a blast from the past for Premier League fans as Comolli worked in England with three different teams.

The Frenchman first operated as a scout at Arsenal and then as director of football at rivals Spurs from 2005 to 2008.

He then returned to the UK in 2010 under new Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) where his work as sporting director wasn’t exactly appreciated during his two years.

Comolli had to deal with Fernando Torres’ shock late departure to Chelsea during the 2011 January transfer window and responded with the stellar signing of Luis Suarez but also the far less impressive deal for Andy Carroll.

The towering striker arrived for a then-club record £35million from Newcastle and hugely struggled to find the back of the net before departing after just a season-and-a-half.

Yet surprisingly it was one of Liverpool’s modern legends that got Comolli sacked.

Speaking to talkSPORT in 2016, the 53-year-old revealed that a £12m move for Jordan Henderson from Sunderland was what cost him his job.

“The day I got sacked they [FSG] told me I had made a big mistake on Jordan and he was a waste of money,” he said. “Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but I think we paid the right price.

“He was a young English, British player and we know very often that British players are overvalued. But we were more than happy to pay the price because we thought he would become an outstanding player.

“I never said it publicly, but I was convinced he would be the future captain. People will say it is easy to say now, but I was convinced at the time that he would become the Liverpool captain.

“I was totally convinced, as was Kenny [Dalglish], that we were doing the right thing for the club.”

Henderson would go on to become Liverpool’s most successful ever captain in terms of trophy count, lifting eight titles with the Reds.

Comolli went on to explain why they were so keen on the midfielder.

“He fitted the profile we were looking for,” he said. “We knew he was an outstanding person, we knew he had leadership skills.

“We knew he was totally dedicated to football, to his passion, and we knew he was someone who wanted to improve on a day to day basis. We knew his physical abilities – his fitness stats were absolutely unbelievable.

“We were looking at statistics and we were going through a lot of midfield players in the Premier League and what amazed me and caught my eye was his ability to create quality chances.

“For a player who was so young, playing not in a top side, with all due respect to Sunderland, he was producing and creating more quality chances, or at least as much, as top quality players in the Premier League.”

Despite his UK days being in the past, Comolli looks set to continue to be relevant to English football fans.

Sky Italia also claim that Fulham’s Marco Silva is ‘highly appreciated’ by the soon-to-be Juve decision-maker.

They add that Comolli’s predecessor, Cristiano Giuntoli, had previously made contact with Silva before thinking he could get his hands on Antonio Conte.

But with Conte now committing to Napoli, the Silva case will likely be revisited.

A former Tottenham star has gone viral for sneaking into Mikel Arteta’s office at the Emirates Stadium to celebrate Spurs’ Europa League trophy win.

David Bentley couldn’t resist a cheeky dig at the north London rivals over their trophyless season after Tottenham ended their 17-year wait for silverware.

The former midfielder took part in a Sellebrity Soccer charity match game at the Emirates on Thursday night, playing in the same team as Callum Best and football freestyler Jeremy Lynch.

Among the other players were social media influencers, YouTubers, reality TV stars and two former Britain’s Got Talent contestants - comedy act Woody and Kleiny.

And practical joker Bentley - who famously dumped a barrel of cold water all over former boss Tottenham Harry Redknapp - was up to his old tricks again as he roped the two BGT stars into helping him bust into Arteta’s inner sanctum.

“Come with me I’ve got something to show you,” he says, wiggling a finger at the camera, before stopping to yell at his Arsenal-supporting teammates, “Oi, oi, oi, Gooners, come on!

“I love this man,” he says, pointing to Mikel Arteta’s name plate on his office door.

“You know what he’s done for me? He’s only gone and left us a beer.”

Entering the office, which features a large photograph of Arteta lifting the FA Cup as soon as you step inside - obviously - Bentley strolls over to the corner of the room to raid the drinks fridge.

He emerges with two bottles of Camden Hells beer - proud sponsors of Arsenal Football Club - saying: “Thank you, Mr Arteta! Thank you very much!”

He then proceeds to dance a jig of celebration, twirling around to reveal ‘Winners 2025’ written on the back of his Tottenham shirt before singing White Hart Lane favourite ‘Can’t Smile Without You’.

Arsenal fans will have a right to be more than a little annoyed at the scenes, as Bentley came through the Gunners’ academy.

He only made nine senior appearances for the club, though, before moving on to Blackburn Rovers where his superb performances across three seasons caught the attention of Spurs, who he signed for in 2008.

Despite early promise, his spell at Tottenham wasn’t an overwhelming success, with injury issues plaguing his career and seeing him drop down the pecking order at club and country level for England.

He was involved in the Spurs team that secured Champions League football for the first time in the club’s history for the 2010/11 campaign - which then led to the infamous soaking of Redknapp.

But despite spending time on both sides of the north London divide, Bentley has well and truly nailed his colours to the mast by celebrating Tottenham’s Europa title win… at Arsenal’s stadium.

And it appears to have annoyed someone, as the video - posted by Woody and Kleiny across their Instagram, TikTok and Facebook pages - was eventually taken down from all of their social media accounts.

But not before others downloaded it and continued to share it themselves.

Posting on Instagram, the duo wrote on Saturday morning: “Many have been asking where the post of Bentley raiding Arteta's fridge has gone...

“Unfortunately we were asked to remove the video.”

Tottenham Hotspur have announced the release of three players less than two weeks after their famous Europa League win in Bilbao.

Fraser Forster, Alfie Whiteman, and Sergio Reguilon will all leave the club at the end of their contracts this summer.

Meanwhile, Timo Werner will also return to his parent club RB Leipzig as his second loan spell in north London concludes.

It marks the start of Spurs' summer business as they look to strengthen the club ahead of a Champions League campaign in 2025/26.

All four players were involved in the celebrations on May 21 when manager Ange Postecoglou led his team to a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Europa League final.

Brennan Johnson scored the only goal of the game in a scrappy match in Spain which ended their 17-year wait for a major trophy.

Of the released players, only third-choice goalkeeper Whiteman was in the playing squad.

The 26-year-old signed for Tottenham in 2015 but throughout his time with the club only made one appearance and that came in the 2020/21 Europa League.

He replaced Joe Hart in the 82nd minute of a 4-0 win over Ludogorets Razgrad.

Fraser Forster leaves after a three-year spell in north London, he had been signed as a backup for Hugo Lloris in 2022/23.

However, due to the Frenchman's poor form in his final season and Guglielmo Vicario's injury this campaign, he managed 34 appearances in his time with the club.

Spanish left-back Reguilon joined Spurs from Real Madrid for £30million in 2020.

He impressed in his first two seasons but gradually fell down the pecking order, leading to loans with Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Brentford.

This season he played on six occasions, called in to make key appearances when injuries hit Postecoglou's squad in the middle of the campaign.

Former Chelsea forward Werner is the other player exiting the club.

A successful loan at the end of the 2023/24 campaign saw him re-signed last summer.

However, the German was far less effective and struggled to make an impact leading to fan backlash.

He did score a key goal in their League Cup win over Man City, and got an assist in their famous 4-0 win over the same side in the Premier League.

However, dwindling form, including a poor game against Tamworth in the FA Cup, saw his game-time diminish before injury ended his season.

The club have also confirmed that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's loan to Marseille has become a permanent deal as expected.

And centre-back Kevin Danso's loan move from RC Lens has become permanent too.

Tottenham's next job is to identify further arrivals ahead of a huge campaign where Premier League improvement is expected, alongside a Champions League challenge.

Champions League finalist Simone Inzaghi is facing an uncertain future - with two Premier League teams allegedly already holding talks with him.

The Inter Milan manager is in his second European Cup final in three years, looking to correct things against Paris Saint-Germain after defeat to Manchester City in 2023.

The Italian is now considered one of the best coaches in the game, having followed up his cup expertise at Lazio by adding six more titles with Inter.

Yet despite becoming a modern great at San Siro, his future has been the subject of speculation, particularly with a reported big money offer from Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal.

Hilal recently parted ways with serial winner Jorge Jesus, and need a new leader as the sole Saudi team in this summer’s Club World Cup.

Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri confirmed those reports to talkSPORT, but also revealed two other far more interesting teams.

“The situation is that Al Hilal offered him £25million per-season for two seasons,” he said.

“I can tell you that he had advanced contacts with both Newcastle and Tottenham but at the same time, the priority for him is to stay at Inter.”

Newcastle’s interest was likely before Eddie Howe steadied the ship for a first trophy in 70 years and qualified for the Champions League, but Spurs may still be on the lookout.

Ange Postecoglou similarly broke a trophy drought with the Europa League title, but a worst-ever Premier League season has left the Australian in a precarious position.

However, they’re not the only ones in England who rate the Italian, with Palmeri adding two more names.

“Obviously if we talk on a financial level nobody can compete with the salary that Al Hilal are offering,” he explained.

“But the Premier League is always a great temptation and at the same time I must tell you that Inzaghi already rejected Liverpool last summer and Manchester United in October.”

Liverpool conducted an extensive search to replace Jurgen Klopp last summer and eventually settled on Arne Slot and won the Premier League.

United, meanwhile, replaced Erik ten Hag with Ruben Amorim, and things only got worse.

Yet if the Red Devils were to call time on Amorim and come back for Inzaghi, Tancredi has explained what will be decisive in the 49-year-old rejecting any approach, even that from Al Hilal.

“The priority for him is Inter, but things are not done because he will have a meeting, probably on Tuesday, with Inter’s management and he will ask for guarantees about the transfer window,” he said.

“For the whole four years he hasn’t had a proper transfer window - imagine Inter playing the second Champions League final in three years and after all of this - considering who they signed, they cashed in 180 million.

“He’s been doing miracles, but he’s been saying ‘After we lose I’m blamed, I want to be given the proper tools to fight to go forward in every competition, maybe then we’ll lose, but give me a proper transfer window’.”

Christopher Nkunku will leave Chelsea this summer, talkSPORT understands.

Nkunku would welcome a move back to Germany to Bayern Munich and is also open to staying in the Premier League.

Tottenham Hotspur have also enquired ahead of a potential shock move to keep him in London.

Bayern made an initial approach for Nkunku in January and the Frenchman was understood to be keen on a move.

However, the German side was put off by Chelsea demanding north of £50million for the winger.

Nkunku is believed to be open to joining the Bundesliga champions but is equally receptive to remaining in the Premier League.

The 27-year-old finished the 24/25 campaign with 14 goals and five assists from 42 appearances across all competitions.

However, only three of those goals came in the Premier League.

Nkunku also started only nine of the 33 league matches he was involved in.

He was an unused substitute in the Conference League final as Chelsea thrashed Real Betis 4-1.

When Blues boss Enzo Maresca hauled off Cole Palmer in the 88th minute, he opted to bring on Spanish teenager Marc Guiu instead of Nkunku.

Nkunku arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2023 from RB Leipzig in a £53m deal.

The Blues were desperate to snap up Nkunku following his 47 goals in 119 Bundesliga appearances for RB Leipzig.

However, he had to wait until December 19 to make his Chelsea debut after he picked up a knee injury during a pre-season fixture against Borussia Dortmund.

Nkunku subsequently underwent surgery which left him sidelined for 'an extended period of time'.

He ultimately featured just 14 times in total during the 2023/24 campaign and scored just three goals.

Speaking last November, Maresca insisted he 'absolutely' wanted to keep Nkunku going into the January window.

However, the Italian acknowledged the forward would struggle to break into his starting team.

"We know that Christo's best position is between the line as a 10," Maresca said at the time.

"Cole [Palmer] is playing there. We will not play many games with Cole and Christo, or Cole and Joao [Felix].

"They are all fantastic players and will play, but not every game.

"The same issue we mention many times with Joao.

"If you play with Cole, Joao, Christo, Noni - who is defending?

"Their skills is not defending, it is to attack. We love them, we want them but we need balance."

Heung-min Son remains a target for the Saudi Pro League, talkSPORT understands.

The Tottenham Hotspur captain has been on the league's radar since 2023, with another attempt to sign him likely.

Clubs in the Saudi Pro League are keen on finding players from new nations as well as signing stars this summer.

It comes as part of a move to bring in new audiences and sell international TV rights.

The approach was a factor in Al Nassr's bid for Brighton and Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma in January.

Meanwhile, Saudi clubs have also attempted to sign Egypt's Mohamed Salah, Colombian winger Luis Diaz and Victor Osimhen of Nigeria in recent windows.

This summer's transfer window in Saudi Arabia is not set to open until after the Club World Cup.

Clubs will have between July 20 and October 8 to complete their business.

Teams in the top-flight are also limited to a maximum of eight overseas players in their squads.

Son would need to change his mind if a move to Saudi Arabia was to be completed, though.

He currently wants to remain at Spurs, where he has a year left on his contract.

The 32-year-old is currently out of contract at the end of next season, having signed a new deal in January.

Since joining the club a decade ago, Son has made 454 appearances for Spurs, the seventh most in their history.

Across those matches, he has scored 173 goals and provided 101 assists.

His goal tally leaves Son as the club's fifth highest scorer of all-time.

Meanwhile, he has finally lifted a trophy with Spurs after their Europa League triumph last week.

The victory also secured Champions League qualification despite finishing 17th in the Premier League.

Ange Postecoglou's side will enter in the league phase as one of six English clubs.

Should Son remain at Spurs, he could get his hands on more silverware with his side to face either Paris Saint-Germain or Inter Milan in the UEFA Super Cup later this year.

The Stadio Friuli in Udine, Italy will host the showpiece match on August 13.

Arsenal have enquired about signing Leroy Sane this summer, talkSPORT understands.

The German winger is available on a free transfer with his Bayern Munich contract set to expire.

Sane's camp have already began touting the 29-year-old around to potential suitors.

Tottenham have also been linked with a move for the former Manchester City star.

However, Sane has previously worked with Gunners boss Mikel Arteta during his time at the Etihad Stadium.

The forward won two league titles during his four years with City, where Arteta was an assistant to Pep Guardiola before joining Arsenal.

Sane reflected on their time working together in April 2024 ahead of Bayern's Champions League quarter-final against the Gunners.

He told reporters: "It was great. I was pleased to work with him because he actually really helped me at City.

"We had a lot of individual talks about how I can improve, strengths, my weaknesses, we worked a lot. I made huge improvements under him, he gave that to me.

"I still keep that in my mind and put that in my game – positioning, how to behave in certain positions. I’m thankful."

Sane scored 25 goals and provided 30 assists in 90 appearances for City between 2016 and 2020.

Following his return to Germany, he has won four Bundesliga titles in five years at Bayern.

Their latest triumph this season was the eighth trophy of his spell after also winning the Club World Cup.

In his final season in Munich, Sane scored 13 goals and added six assists in 45 appearances across all competitions.

It is already proving to be a busy summer in north London ahead of the transfer window reopening.

Arsenal are set to complete the signing of Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad.

The two clubs are finalising a £51million deal after the Euro 2024 winner agreed terms on a long-term contract.

Zubimendi underwent his Gunners medical on Wednesday ahead of becoming Arteta's first summer signing.

Meanwhile, the club are stepping up their pursuit of a new striker for next season.

John Terry couldn't help himself yet again.

The Chelsea legend was in action at this year's Maddison Invitational, a charity golf tournament organised by Tottenham Hotspur star James Maddison.

Terry was one of several sport stars and celebrities competing at The Centurion Club as the likes of Gareth Barry, Lee Hendrie, Tony Bellew, Jimmy Bullard, Nathan Aspinall, Michael McIntyre and Teddy Sheringham along with many others braved the wet weather.

It was Terry who finished first in the field and took home the grand prize, much to the chagrin of several Tottenham fans who were also at the event.

And the 44-year-old took yet another cheeky swipe at the north London side as he joined Darren Bent and Andy Goldstein on talkSPORT Drive.

"I've had a very good day today," Terry said.

"I was four-under today, I've won the trophy and I've got up to a bit of heckling and a few boos.

"But it's been a week and I've won the same amount of trophies as Spurs."

When asked if he said as much to the Tottenham faithful in the room, Terry gleefully replied: "Of course I did!"

Terry's jibe was a reference to Tottenham ending their 17-year trophy drought last Wednesday via the Europa League.

A 1-0 victory over Manchester United did the business for Ange Postecoglou's side as they also booked a spot in next season's Champions League despite finishing 17th in the Premier League having lost an alarming 22 times.

It may have been a slight surprise to some that Terry even attended Maddison's golf day given the playful back-and-forth between the two on social media following Tottenham's Europa League victory.

Maddison played no part in the final having picked up a season-ending injury in the first leg of the semi-final.

But it didn't stop him from dressing up in full kit for the trophy lift.

Scenes of Maddison in full kit despite not playing a single second of the final evoked memories of when Terry did the same when Chelsea won the Champions League in 2012.

The Blues hero was suspended for the final but still donned a Chelsea kit and socks in the post-match celebrations.

In an Instagram story following the win, Maddison poked fun at the fact he was in full kit and tagged Terry in his caption.

Maddison wrote: "To kit. Full @johnterry.26 mode. Anything to say tonight John?"

It didn't take long for Terry to bite back and he did so in ruthless fashion with a brutal reminder of how many trophies he won in his time at Stamford Bridge.

"I remember my first trophy, ah bless them," Terry wrote on Instagram.

"Get the tequila out. Great season from you boys, you should all be proud! 16 (trophies) to go...

"After that performance I think you have a chance. You just have to live for 900 years."

Terry then took it a step further when he showed off the inside of his home office adorned with trophies, England caps and celebratory champagne galore.

The 44-year-old wrote: "Good morning everyone, have a lovely day."

Chelsea will also have the chance to equal Tottenham's trophy haul this season on Wednesday when they take on Real Betis in the Conference League final, live on talkSPORT.

Although Terry conceded it's not a tournament the Blues would want to be in from the outset, they still want to 'go in it to win it'.

"And I think they've given themselves a really good chance to go and do that," Terry said.

"I think securing Champions League football next year via the league is great.

"But when you're in these big finals, you want to go and perform on the big stage.

"Betis are a good side, by the way. It's not going to be an easy game, it's going to be a tough game.

"I think we're good enough to do it. We're probably young and inexperienced, which is a plus for the football club.

"But in these big games, that can also go against you a little bit. That's the only thing that goes against us, if I'm honest.

"But I think they'll rise to the challenge. At the weekend they did as well, which was a big game in front of the Forest fans and the boys performed on a big occasion. So I think they can do it again."

James Maddison cheekily claimed Simon Jordan doesn't understand how to make a successful football team with the pair trading verbal blows of late.

Spurs' Europa League final victory over Manchester United saw Maddison pick up a winner’s medal despite missing the game through injury.

He contributed three goals and four assists to his side’s triumphant European campaign.

In the aftermath of last week’s celebrations in Bilbao, Maddison posted a clip of Jordan critiquing Maddison’s trophy-winning credentials during a talkSPORT broadcast in February.

In response, Madddison captioned the clip of him holding the trophy: "Bookmarked it. Knew it would come in handy.”

Maddison uploaded a clip of talkSPORT pundit and former Crystal Palace owner Jordan questioning his trophy-winning credentials.

"If you want to win something, you've got to bring players in that are able to operate at the highest level," he said in February.

The ex-Crystal Palace owner was in no mood to give Maddison the final word.

“It’s good he listens to the show after his performance… oh he didn’t play in the game did he?,” Jordan said on Tuesday.

The talkSPORT pundit then dug a little deeper and took aim at Maddison’s role in Leicester’s dismal relegation campaign of 2022/23.

“The ultimate Maddison effect is you win things now with James Maddison and your team gets relegated,” he added.

And Jordan didn’t stop there.

“Perhaps if he’d been available for Spurs more this season they might have got relegated. They did their very best to try to didn’t they by finishing fourth from bottom?" Jordan continued.

“But he’s right, if people make an observation they should be held accountable for it."

Once Jordan had disposed of his pops at the England international, he did concede that Maddison was in his right to hit back before questioning whether it was the right action in the context of the handbags.

“If a team or individual achieves something there’s a balancing act between having the strength of character to say to somebody ‘you’re irrelevant so I don’t care about your opinion or empowering that person by saying I do value your opinion and you were wrong,’ Jordan added.

“I don’t mind either way. He pulled up Roy [Keane] about it as well didn’t he?”

Maddison previously came under fire from Keane who suggested he was lacking in consistency, before Maddison later responded by scoring against United.

Following last week's final, Maddison responded in an interview with CBS Sports for whom Keane was providing punditry analysis.

"I wasn't gonna do any interviews but I heard Roy Keane was in the studio tonight," the Spurs star said.

Studio guest Micah Richards then urged him to throw the imaginary darts, to which he agreed, adding: "Oh I will, Micah, with pleasure!"

That led to Keane replying: "I always said he was a good player but he needs to be more consistent. And he played well tonight!"

With Maddison at the centre of tiffs with two of football's most prominent voices, there was only one way to address the situation.

As is often the case on the world's biggest radio station, talkSPORT were quick in obtaining a reply from Maddison to Jordan's latest blast.

The Tottenham playmaker joined talkSPORT Drive later on Tuesday and appeared to pour cold water on any possible conflict, but maybe included a couple of cheeky digs for good measure.

"I don’t want to get into a pillow fight with Simon Jordan but even with the Roy Keane thing, it’s all a bit tongue-in-cheek," Maddison said.

"Over the course of a season as a player, you have accept people in the media giving you criticism. That’s part and parcel.

"But when you win the trophy as a club, if you’re not entitled to have a dig back, then what's the point?"

He continued: "People always want personality. They moan there’s not enough personality in players and they are all robots with the same generic answers.

"Then as soon as we show a bit of personality, we get shot down for that too. But I'll never change.

"It just tells me that Simon Jordan doesn’t quite understand what it takes to be a successful team.

"It’s not just about the 11 players who play. It’s not just about the players. It’s about the team behind the team. We all win together."

Maddison continued: "It's a long season, especially with the new format with the extra games and it takes everything.

"It takes all the squad all players used all staff involved to get us the players in the right place to be able to go and win and we did that and we're so happy.

"So we win as a collective so everyone involved wins the Tottenham fans when we all win, Sir Simon wants to try to take that away from me then be my guest.

"But maybe just eat a bit humble pie put your hands up and say, 'okay, maybe James Madison did win this season'".

The Tottenham star will now put his energy into recovering from a knee injury sustained in the Europa League semi-final first-leg win over Bodo/Glimt.

There were fears Maddison could miss the beginning of next season but it now appears that the 28-year-old will overcome his injury woes in time for the August restart.