10 February 2023 , 22:30
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Tottenham coach Cristian Stellini has let the cat out of the bag by admitting Spurs are among James Maddison's posse of admirers.
The Leicester playmaker has been the Foxes' best player this season, and his form earned him a call-up into England's World Cup squad. Newcastle had at least two bids of up to £50 million for Maddison rejected last summer, but with only 16 months left on his contract at the King Power, the vultures are circling.
And Tottenham, in the market for a No.10 to pick the lock around the box, will enjoy a close-up view of his attributes on Saturday as head coach Antonio Conte returns to the dugout following his gallbladder operation.
Conte's assistant Stellini admitted: “We like Maddison. He is an important player in this league, a player with an important type of skill, like his delivery, his crossing, his right foot is a very important foot so he shoots, he crosses, he takes the set-pieces.
“He is a player you have to take care of. When you play against him, you have to be careful. When you feel how important is this type of skill, for sure you like this type of player.
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“He’s a player with talent. At the moment he’s playing for Leicester, a team we play against. We take care of him like an opponent.”
Maddison scored in the Foxes' 6-2 defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September – the game where Heung-min Son ended a barren run with a 13-minute hat-trick from the bench after being dropped.
James Maddison is waiting to hear what offers come his way (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Although his first goals of the season were expected to open the floodgates for the South Korean striker, who shared the Premier League Golden Boot with Mo Salah last May, his form has not kicked on.
Stellini admitted: “When you are a player like Sonny, you have not been scoring and then you score three goals in a game, you would think with this boost, Sonny would be again a player that can score more.
“It could be a surprise (that it has not happened). But we also know very well that in football, this type of thing can happen. If you think in the way I think about Sonny, in the last three, four games, my perception is that he played amazing games.
“Also when he didn’t score, he helped the team. I could show you games when Sonny was so important in the defensive situation, and how it's important with his capacity to run, to attack the space, to create space for the other players.
Newcastle made bid last summer and their won't be a shortage of suitors this year (Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)“It’s not only about scoring goals: Every striker wants to score every game, but there are periods where you score more and every time you shoot, you reach the target and score.
“Sometimes you shoot a lot and are unlucky. For us, as coaches, it's important what Sonny does for the team and when Sonny does score, we will like him like every time. But I repeat: he played amazing games.”
Stellini hinted Tottenham's team selection at Leicester could be governed by their midweek trip to AC Milan in the Champions League round of 16.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is suspended for the first leg in the San Siro clash, which could result in Rodrigo Bentancur being rested at Leicester. Stellini added: "Maybe we have to consider that next week we have to play three games, but the most important thing is the next step, the next game. We pick every time the team that we think is best to win the next game.”
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