Tottenham transfer boost as £40m Maddison deal confirmed to ease pressure on Daniel Levy

Tottenham have confirmed the signing of Leicester City midfielder James Maddison for £40million on a five-year deal.

The England international comes to north London as one of the Premier League sought-after midfielders with Newcastle United also widely interested in him.

He has played three times for England and was part of the team that Gareth Southgate picked for the World Cup in Qatar even though he did not play due to injury.

He made 203 appearances for the Foxes after joining from Norwich in 2018 for a fee of around £20million and has taken his game to the next level including playing a pivotal role as Leicester won the FA Cup for the first time in their history.

He was the best player for the Foxes last season and bagged 10 goals but that was not even to keep them from being relegated in the Premier League.

His signing shows ambition from Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy who is determined to restore the club to high standing when they were when they had Mauricio Pochettino as boss.

Tottenham finished eighth in the Premier League last season, a disappointing end to a campaign that started with Champions League football against Marseille and ended with players being booed off the park at home against Brentford.

But Levy’s shrewd appointment of Ange Postecoglou and the signing of Maddison has restored hope and generated a level of excitement within the fanbase.

The Lilywhites have also signed Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli on Tuesday night and now attention will turn to fixing the defence and midfield as they look to strengthen all areas foe ahead of the 2023/2024 season.