James Maddison is back in training for the first time in nearly three months and could well play in Tottenham’s big FA Cup clash against Manchester City.
Spurs vs City is the pick of the fourth-round fixtures, especially after the Premier League title contenders played out an entertaining 3-3 draw in December.
However, both sides will be without their star forwards, with Son Heung-min away at the Asian Cup, while Erling Haaland is still sidelined with a foot injury.
But in better injury news – well for Spurs at least – Friday night’s game may mark the return of Maddison who has been stuck in the treatment room after injuring his ankle in the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea at the start of November.
The attacking midfielder’s absence has been felt, though Ange Postecoglou’s side are still performing to a high standard and are currently fifth in the table, eight points off leaders Liverpool.
Tottenham confirmed the 27-year-old’s return on Twitter, posting two pictures of him accompanied by the captions: ‘Look who’s back’ and ‘Things you love to see’.
It remains to be seen whether the England star will be fit in time to face the Citizens, with 10 other players currently out injured or away at the Asian Cup or AFCON, including Dejan Kulusevski, Giovani Lo Celso and Yves Bissouma.
City have few injury worries, with Haaland, John Stones and Manuel Akanji ruled out, though goalkeeper Ederson could also miss out after getting injured in their last game against Newcastle.
Maddison moved to north London from relegated Leicester last summer for £40million, with many initially hailing it as the signing of the transfer window following his brilliant start for Spurs.
Prior to his injury, he scored three and assisted six in 11 league appearances and it was looking like a sure fire thing that he would be included in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2024.
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