Shocking!! That young New signing is ready to replace James Maddison against wolves as his first appearance of the season

Ange Postecoglou has wildcard James Maddison replacement option after Tottenham injury update

James Maddison will not be part of the England squad for their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers following confirmation from Tottenham on Friday morning. Sustaining an ankle injury in Monday’s 4-1 defeat against Chelsea but selected by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate for the Malta and North Macedonia games, the attacking midfielder was only in the squad a matter of hours.

A statement from Tottenham on Friday read: “We can confirm that James Maddison has been withdrawn from the England squad due to an ankle injury. The midfielder will not feature in the Three Lions’ UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, and will remain at Hotspur Way for rehabilitation with the club’s medical staff.”

Perhaps no shock to Tottenham fans, the injury update on the player means that Ange Postecoglou will have to find a replacement for Maddison ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash at Wolves. The 58-year-old does have a couple of options to choose from, most notably Giovani Lo Celso and Rodrigo Bentancur.
The former is perhaps the more suited to taking on Maddison’s role and he himself will have his fingers crossed that he is the one selected after such a frustrating campaign to date. Wowing for Tottenham in pre-season and certainly one of the team’s best players in the summer upon his return from 18 months with Villarreal, a combination of Maddison’s form and injury has restricted him to only 24 minutes across two Premier League appearances.

Appearing to be Maddison’s alternative in the squad, Lo Celso will be desperately unlucky if not selected in the Tottenham XI at Wolves. If he isn’t, Bentancur could be the player that comes in and is tasked with linking up midfield and attack.

Returning to the pitch at Crystal Palace two weeks ago after recovering from the long-term ACL injury he sustained in February, the Uruguayan has topped up his fitness in the past two games and could possibly now be a candidate to come in from the off. However, Postecoglou and his Spurs coaching team need to decide whether that is a viable option just yet as they cannot afford to push him too much too soon and then he finds himself back on the sidelines.

Appearing to be a straight shootout between the duo to take on Maddison’s role, Postecoglou does have a wildcard he could choose to unleash in the West Midlands. That wildcard is moving Dejan Kulusevski from his role on the right into a central position.

The Swede is no stranger to the role having played there earlier in his career and also towards the end of last season, with his showing against Brentford certainly one of his strongest of the term. Mentioning in the summer of 2022 that he sees his best position as the No.10 role, Tottenham fans have seen very little of the youngster operating centrally as he has always played from the right since his move from Juventus.


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