Who is James Maddison? Spurs star’s career, celebration, and trophies explained
James Maddison is one of Tottenham’s most important, influential, and vocal players, so let’s get to know the midfielder in more detail.
The playmaker is now into his second season with Spurs, and is one of the first names on Ange Postecoglou‘s team sheet due to the way he dictates the game.
Since signing from Leicester City in the summer of 2023, Maddison has taken on the number 10 shirt at Tottenham, is one of the club’s vice-captains, and fills the creative void the Lilywhites have been looking to resolve since losing Christian Eriksen.
Most people who follow the Premier League will know a fair bit about him, but we’re going to dive into everything there is to know about James Maddison; from his trademark goal celebration, to his family life, and his career before Spurs.
How much did Spurs pay for James Maddison?
James Maddison was one of Postecoglou’s first signings as Tottenham manager, arriving from Leicester City after they were relegated from the top flight.
The deal to bring the midfielder to North London cost Spurs roughly £40m in June 2023 (Sky Sports) and it’s looked like money well spent already having come an internal part of the Tottenham first-team squad.
He was named as one of Ange Postecoglou‘s vice-captains almost immediately, and has been a very vocal presence off the field, taking part in plenty of press conferences and representing the club to the media.
Maddison got off to an incredible start to his first season with the Lilywhites, registering three goals and five assists in the opening ten games of the campaign. But, he suffered an ankle injury in November and missed ten matches, and was unable to get back to his best form in the backend of the season.
Now fully fit and looking sharp, he is hoping to lead Spurs to glory, telling Optus Sport that the players have a ‘duty’ to deliver silverware for a club of this magnitude.
Where was James Maddison before Tottenham?
Maddison began his career at his boyhood club Coventry City, before joining Norwich City and then moving on to Leicester City.
He spent a couple of years with the Coventry first-team, racking up 42 appearances, and registering five goals and five assists (Transfermarkt).
Maddison then spent another couple of years at Norwich, including a brief loan spell at Scottish outfit Aberdeen. He flourished with the Canaries, scoring 16 goals and adding 13 assists across 53 appearances.
It was his big move to Leicester in 2018, for a fee of around £22m (Sky Sports), that really saw Maddison’s career take off, though. He made 203 appearances for the Foxes, bagging 55 goals and 39 assists.
Funnily enough, Spurs could have signed Maddison years ago, when David Pleat scouted him at Coventry. Pleat told The Athletic that the club ignored his advice, though, and ended up waiting seven years and spending much more money on him.
What trophies has James Maddison won?
Maddison may want to win trophies with Spurs, but he has already won an FA Cup with Leicester City back in 2021.
The Foxes beat Stoke, Brentford, Brighton, Manchester United, and Southampton on their way to the final, before defeating Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley. Leicester conceded just two goals along the way.
Maddison helped the cause by scoring in the win over Brentford in the fourth round. He was on the bench for the final but came on to help Brendan Rodgers’ side lift the cup.
He also won the Community Shield with Leicester at the start of the 2021/22 season.
How much is he worth and what is he paid?
James Maddison is one of the highest-earners at Tottenham, just behind his captain, Heung-min Son. He earns a reported £170,000 per week or £8.84m per year.
That’s according to Spotrac data. That figure puts him around £20,000 behind Son, and just £5,000 above Cristian Romero‘s weekly earnings.
Not only is Maddison one of the top earners at Spurs, he is also the club’s most valuable player according to Transfermarkt data. He is valued at £59.1m right now.
James Maddison’s goal celebration
Over the last couple of years, James Maddison has become well-known for his goal celebration, where he pretends to throw darts.
As you may have guessed, Maddison is a big fan of the sport, playing darts in his spare time. You will often see Spurs players joining him for this celebration, with the likes of Heung-min Son and Brennan Johnson also pretending to throw darts with Maddison.
It’s not just Spurs players, either. In the 2023/24 season, both Bukayo Saka and Neal Maupay copied Maddison’s celebration during games against Tottenham, with the latter really riling up the Spurs man at the time.
Luckily, Spurs went on to win that game, and Maddison has told Golf Life that he hasn’t really thought about the Maupay situation or spoken to the player since.
James Maddison’s height, weight, and family
Maddison has a slight frame, coming in at 1.75m tall and weighing 73kg. He was born on November 23, 1996.
He was born in Coventry, England, but also has Irish ancestry through one of his grandparents.
Maddison and his partner, Kennedy Alexa, had their first child, a son, in 2021. They then had twins (a boy and a girl) in 2023.
Why hasn’t James Maddison played for England more?
At the time of writing, James Maddison has just seven caps for England. He has struggled throughout his career to break into the national team and establish himself as a regular fixture in the squad.
He made his debut for the Three Lions in November 2019, in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro. Maddison then had to wait until March 2023 to make his next appearance for his country, winning another four caps that year.
Despite being named in Gareth Southgate’s provisional squad for Euro 2024 and featuring in the friendlies against Belgium and Bosnia earlier this year, Maddison was cut from the final 26-man squad for the tournament.
Maddison shared his thoughts on missing out on X, revealing he was ‘devastated’ to not be including in the squad. He has since been left out of caretaker manager Lee Carsley’s first England squad, too.
The obvious reason for him not making the Euro 2024 squad is likely down to his form in the latter half of last season, where he struggled to gain momentum after his injury. England had, and have always had, an abundance of talented playmakers, and Maddison has never quite managed to climb the pecking order.
There is also a bit of history between Maddison and Southgate that could have hampered the former’s progress at international level. In 2019, Maddison withdrew from the England camp due to illness, but was later spotted in a casino. It is not known whether this issue factored into Southgate’s decisions regarding Maddison over the years, but it can’t have helped.
He’s a huge fan of Harry Potter and has the tattoos to prove it
Fun fact: James Maddison loves Harry Potter. In fact, he loves the Wizarding World so much, he has three tattoos based on the magical franchise.
He has the iconic Harry Potter lightning bolt scar on his arm, as well as the number 9¾ (a reference to the Hogwarts Express train platform), and the Elder wand.
Maddison has admitted he is a ‘little geek’ when it comes to the fantasy movies, but could never meet star Daniel Radcliffe as it would ruin the illusion for him to meet his hero. He watches the Harry Potter films every Christmas, loves trivia games on the topic, and has a framed wand with Radcliffe’s signature on (as per Tribuna).
Is James Maddison on social media?
You can find James on Instagram under the username, @madders.
Twitter/X
You can find James on Twitter/X under the username, @madders10.
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