James Maddison is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after Tottenham boss Thomas Frank revealed his knee injury suffered against Newcastle looked ‘like a bad one’.
The playmaker left the Seoul World Cup Stadium on crutches and with his head down after being stretched off in the closing stages of a 1-1 draw.
Maddison collapsed to the turf after what looked like an innocuous collision with Anthony Elanga. However, medics soon called for a stretcher with the player in obvious discomfort.
Afterwards, Frank confirmed the problem was in the same knee as the injury that kept him out for several months last season.
The loss of Maddison overshadowed the final Tottenham appearance of Son Heung-min, who was given an emotional send-off by team-mates, supporters and opponents Newcastle.
‘I think sometimes life and football can be brutal, but also sometimes very beautiful,’ said Frank.
James Maddison suffered another injury blow during Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle
Maddison looked in agony after an innocuous challenge and was taken off on a stretcher
He placed his hands over his face and now faces a nervy wait over the extent of the issue
‘So I think it was brutal in what happened to to Madders. It looks like a a bad injury. Of course we don’t know exactly the status on it. It didn’t look good.
‘And then on the other side, unbelievable, beautiful scenes with Sonny and his teammates. The big respect from Newcastle, I can’t praise that highly enough from the players on the pitch. The scenes after, first when we walk around the pitch and then when his team-mates gathered around him, you could see he was highly emotional.’
An emotional farewell for Spurs legend Son Heung-min quickly became overshadowed by Maddison’s latest injury torment.
Son, who had been subbed off and given a tearful guard of honour by both teams, looked concerned for the midfielder as he watched on from the bench.
Maddison had only just been introduced himself in place of Archie Gray but had to be replaced by South Korean youngster Yang Min-hyeok once he was carried away.
The exact extent of his injury – and subsequent recovery time on the treatment table – has not been officially confirmed, but Frank was notably downbeat post-match.
Maddison endured an injury-hit 2024-25 campaign after an ankle issue led to him being ruled out for two months between November and January. A problem with his right knee then resulted in him sitting out for the end of the season.
The news will come as a devastating blow for Frank, who will be without Dejan Kulusevski at the start of the season. He also saw top creative target Morgan Gibbs-White commit his future to Nottingham Forest despite Spurs’ approach.
Maddison limped to the side of the pitch after this incident and signalled to the bench
Son Heung-min looked concerned for his team-mate after playing his final game for Spurs
Thomas Frank said the injury was ‘brutal’ for Maddison and admitted it looked ‘bad’
Mohammed Kudus was brought in to reinforce that department in a £55million deal from West Ham while Mathys Tel was signed permanently from Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, Mail Sport reported that Spurs have been finalising terms with Bayern over midfielder Joao Palhinha, who has top-flight experience with Fulham.
Spurs take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup next Wednesday before beginning the new Premier League season at home to Burnley next Saturday.
Son is likely to have departed the club before those fixtures after announcing his departure at a press conference on Saturday.
He said: ‘Before we start the press conference, I wanted to say I have decided to leave the club this summer. Respectfully the club is helping me with this decision.
‘It was the most difficult decision I have made in my career. Such amazing memories. It was so hard to make the decision.
‘I need a new environment to push myself. I need a little bit of change – 10 years is a long time. I came to north London as a kid, 23 years old, such a young age. I leave this club as a grown man, a very proud man.
‘I want to say thank you to all the Spurs fans for giving me so much love. I hope the goodbye is also good timing and this is the right time to make that decision. I hope everyone can accept and respect that.’
