It’s not exactly rocket science. If one James Maddison has had such a positive impact on Tottenham Hotspur this season, logic dictates that adding another James Maddison to Ange Postecoglou’s squad during the summer transfer window would only be a good thing.
Of course, while medical science continues to drag its heels on the whole ‘cloning footballers’ thing, that remains something of a pipe dream, but at the very least, Spurs appear to be interested in landing the next best option: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
Like Maddison before him, Dewsbury-Hall, with his name like a stately home, is a wiry, whippet-like creative who thrives in the unseen pockets between pitched defensive lines. Also, like Maddison before him, he is in the service of a Leicester City side who are facing the very real possibility of bottling something fairly magnificent.
At the time of writing, the Foxes are perched perilously atop the Championship, one point ahead of Ipswich Town and just two clear of Leeds United. With tricky clashes against the likes of Southampton and West Brom still to come between now and the end of their automatic promotion push, it is not unthinkable that Enzo Maresca’s men could tumble into the play-off places. From there, it is a blindfolded knife fight on a greased up bouncy castle. Since 2015, the club who have finished third during the regular Football League season have been promoted on just four occasions.
And all of this is relevant because it could dictate whether or not Leicester are forced into selling Dewsbury-Hall this summer. If, by the time May rolls around, they have made an immediate return to the top flight, then you would imagine that they will do all they can to retain the services of a player who has registered 12 goals and 13 assists across 39 Championship outings this term. Should things go awry, however, the Foxes could be forced into a hasty sale.
Finances at the King Power are already frighteningly tight, with club chiefs announcing annual losses of £90 million just last week. Were Leicester to be consigned to a second successive campaign away from the Premier League, you suspect that those figures could grow larger and scarier still.
As such, cashing in on somebody like Dewsbury-Hall, who is expected to fetch somewhere in the region of £45 million if and when he does depart, could become an aching necessity. According to talkSPORT, Tottenham would be keen to capitalise on any such predicament; then again, so would Brighton and Hove Albion, who already saw a salvo of bids for the 25-year-old rejected back in January.
But if there is a version of events in which Dewsbury-Hall does become available, then it is a race that Spurs should really be looking to win. One way or another, he will almost certainly be a Premier League player next season. Those in the East Midlands are desperately hoping that he can realise that status at his boyhood club. Tottenham have it within their power to scupper those aspirations.
About The Author
Leave a Reply