James Maddison says he knew there was a chance that Harry Kane would depart Tottenham this summer when he signed for the North London club.
When Kane completed a big-money switch to Bayern Munich just before the start of the new season, some pundits such as Rio Ferdinand suggested (on his YouTube channel) that Maddison would be ‘gutted’ at the outcome.
The former Man Utd man opined that the 26-year-old would have arrived at Tottenham in order to play alongside the England captain, and questioned whether Maddison would have sought assurances over the centre-forward’s future before signing on the dotted line.
VALLETTA, MALTA – JUNE 16: Harry Kane and James Maddison of England arrive at the stadium prior to the UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying round group C match between Malta and England at Ta’ Qali Stadium on June 16, 2023 in Valletta, Malta. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, others such as Paul Merson insisted that Spurs would struggle to score goals without Kane and insisted that the Lilywhites would find it difficult to even finish in the top half of the table without their talisman (Sky Sports).
However, Tottenham have silenced their critics with the way they have started the season, playing some eye-catching football and scoring goals for fun.
James Maddison knew Harry Kane might leave Spurs
Maddison has now set the record straight that Kane’s presence at Spurs was not the main reason behind his move to the club.
The former Leicester City man told The Evening Standard: “I wasn’t naive enough to go in there thinking there wasn’t a chance Harry Kane could leave. I wasn’t going to Tottenham for Harry Kane.
“Listen, I think he’s the best No9 in the world and I would have loved to have played with him for more than a couple of pre-season games, to be honest. But this is the challenge now and we’ve got some brilliant players at Spurs, honestly.”
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I actually think Kane’s departure has worked to Maddison’s advantage as the striker would have occupied quite similar positions to what the 26-year-old does. The midfielder is also seemingly relishing the prospect of being one of the main men for Tottenham at the moment, which would not have been possible with Kane around.
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