James Maddison: From Injury to Spurs Revival

The Football Interview returns to BBC One at 12:45 every Saturday during the Premier League season, with every episode also on BBC iPlayer, BBC Football’s YouTube channel and the BBC Sport website and app.

The first show of the new campaign, on Saturday, 22 August, drops straight into the chaos of James Maddison’s world – and it is far from the polished calm of a training ground.

Five kids, one ruined knee

Tottenham’s playmaker sits down with Kelly Somers and lays it out bluntly. While his team fought to stay in the Premier League, he was fighting a very different battle at home.

He and his partner have been “in the trenches” with five children aged four and under. Two sets of twins. One serious knee injury. No football.

The 29-year-old ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament last August and missed most of the 2025-26 season. For a player who lives off rhythm and repetition, the sudden stop hit hard. He calls it “the toughest year of his life”.

In the middle of that rehab, his partner gave birth to their second set of twins. It changed everything.

“I needed that positive distraction of my partner being pregnant and having to be there for her and forget about myself, even though I was going through a traumatic experience through my knee,” he tells Somers.

The house turned into a war zone of wipes and bottles.

“A lot of nappies flying about, a lot of accidents at home, but it'll all be worth it,” he says. “We still love it. I wouldn't change it for the world.”

When Dad stops playing

The lay-off lasted so long that even his eldest started to question what was going on.

“I missed a year of football, and a year in a child's life – from three and a half to four and a half – it's obviously massive,” Maddison says.

Leo, his oldest, genuinely thought Dad had left Spurs.

“He couldn't even remember over a year ago when he was at all the games.

“It would be nice for him to come to the games again and actually remember Dad playing instead of just Dad sat at home watching him with a machine on his knee.”

For a player who thrives on being the centre of the action, watching from the sofa as his club slid towards danger cut deep.

Watching Spurs suffer

Tottenham staggered through last season. They only secured survival on the final day, finishing two points above the relegation zone. For a club that talks about Champions League nights and top-four pushes, it was a jolt.

Maddison could only watch.

“We probably struggled a little bit for creativity and I'm watching the games thinking, 'what would I be doing there?',” he says.

No dramatic speeches. Just a creator stuck on the sidelines, replaying angles in his head while his knee healed and his team scraped for points.

De Zerbi’s reset

The mood changed when Roberto de Zerbi walked through the doors in March.

“He's very clever. He's very tactical. He's obsessed with football, you can see that,” Maddison says.

The Italian did not storm in with a 200-page playbook. He read the room.

“But to be honest, when he first came in – in comparison to pre-season and what we're training now – he didn't want to make it too complicated. He just wanted us to get the love back for playing football.”

So he started somewhere simple: a night out.

One of his first moves was to organise a team meal. No dry, scripted bonding exercise. Alcohol allowed.

The 29-year-old recalls De Zerbi telling the squad: “We're all going to be drinking alcohol, we're all going to be having a good night.”

Maddison understood the message.

“He wanted us to have a night where we all just relax.

“That feeling that we got made everyone feel more knitted together, straight away.”

From there, small steps. Different tone. Lighter dressing room. A group that had been paralysed by fear began to breathe again.

Back on the bench, even in slippers

De Zerbi also made a point of involving Maddison before he was fully ready.

Another early decision: put him on the bench.

“I was almost like, 'I'm not ready to play yet, boss',” Maddison says.

De Zerbi refused to leave him at home.

“He said I can come on the bench in my slippers if I want. He just wanted me around the group and he thought that would benefit the group. I took that as a massive compliment and just acted as if I was part of the bench, part of the team.

“I'm not saying that's the reason why, but we managed to steer clear of the danger, which was a good feeling.”

Symbolic or not, it mattered. A key voice back in the dugout. A reminder of what Spurs had been missing and what they still hoped to get back.

Maddison finally returned to the pitch against Leeds on 11 May. It was a landmark, but not the end of the journey. Spurs have not risked him in pre-season so far, protecting that repaired knee.

A season to reclaim

The playmaker is not hiding his ambition for the months ahead.

“I'm working so hard to try and be fully fit and available for the majority of the season,” he says.

“I want just a fully fit, healthy season where I can just enjoy football. Because if I'm fully fit and I'm healthy, then I know what I'm capable of. And I know that I can affect games more than a lot of players in this league. So, let's just hope for that.”

From nappies flying around the living room to De Zerbi’s late-season rescue act, Maddison has lived a year that tested every part of him.

Now comes the simple question that will define Tottenham’s season: if he really does stay fit, how far can he drag them back up the table?