Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed that James Maddison has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, ruling the England midfielder out for a long period. The 28-year-old sustained the injury during a pre-season friendly against Newcastle United in Seoul and is scheduled to undergo surgery in the coming days.
The club said in a statement: “We can confirm that James Maddison will undergo surgery for a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee … His surgery will take place in the coming days and, following that, James will then begin his rehabilitation with our medical team. Everyone at Tottenham Hotspur wishes James a full and speedy recovery.” Maddison collapsed in pain with no one around him and was carried off on a stretcher in the 86th minute. He had missed the end of last season with a knee injury but returned last month under new head coach Thomas Frank.
His creative role could now be filled by Mohammed Kudus, the 25-year-old Ghana international who joined Spurs for £54.5m in the summer. Kudus played the full 90 minutes on Thursday night as Bayern Munich beat Tottenham 4-0 at the Allianz Arena, with former Spurs captain Harry Kane scoring and missing a penalty.
Kane put Bayern ahead in the first half, converting a pass from Michael Olise. João Palhinha, making his first start for Spurs after his loan move from Bayern, conceded a penalty for a foul on Josip Stanisic, but Kane miscued his effort. Bayern continued to dominate after the break, with Kingsley Coman and teenagers Lennart Karl and Jonah Kusi-Asare adding goals. Frank told the Tottenham website: “We were obviously playing a very good team. Bayern in my opinion are one of the teams that probably are favourites to win the Champions League. They hit a good level, we didn’t hit a good level. That’s a bad combination but we will learn from this one.”
Frank’s side now face Paris Saint-Germain in the Uefa Super Cup next Wednesday, and he insisted they would be ready. Meanwhile, West Ham have confirmed that Michail Antonio will not be signing a new contract. The 35-year-old’s deal expired at the end of June, but the club said they would continue to support his rehabilitation and hold dialogue over an alternative capacity. Antonio, who joined from Nottingham Forest in 2015, made 323 appearances and scored 83 goals for the Hammers.
