‘Next Dele Alli’: Spurs once tried to sign England star, now he’s worth £60m & they want him again - reporter

By Charles Jones

Speaking on the View From The Lane Podcast, Jack Pitt-Brooke has been discussing Tottenham and James Maddison.

Pitt-Brooke and his co-hosts were discussing some of Spurs’ transfer window near misses in recent years, and he noted that Spurs actually tried to sign James Maddison when he was a teenager from Coventry City.

Indeed, the club had the idea of bringing Maddison in as a youngster and turning him into the next Dele Alli, but, sadly, Spurs didn’t make this move at the time.

Of course, since then, the £60m man has gone from strength to strength, and, ironically, Tottenham have been strongly linked with a summer move for the Leicester City star.

Spurs wanted Maddison

The reporter spoke about how Spurs nearly signed Maddison as a youngster.

“Yeah, when he was at Coventry. When he was at Coventry they had an idea of making him sort of the next Dele Alli. David Pleat is across scouting the best young players in the Football League and they had a good look at him and they didn’t do it. He went to Norwich instead and it worked out pretty well for Maddison,” Pitt-Brooke said.

Chance to make amends

This has to go down as one of Tottenham’s biggest transfer mistakes in recent years, but, luckily, they have the chance to make amends in the summer transfer window.

Indeed, Maddison is entering the final year of his deal at Leicester and a move away from the King Power Stadium could be on the cards at the end of the season.

Newcastle and Tottenham have both been strongly linked, and Spurs will be hoping to right their previous wrong by getting Maddison through the door this time.