James Maddison is to miss the majority of the 2025/26 season with a torn ACL in pre-season friendly between Tottenham and Newcastle.
The 28 year old Spurs midfielder has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury with BBC Sport senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel reporting that that Maddison is set to have surgery and will become a long-term absentee as he starts his recovery programme.
Madders suffered the injury in South Korea last weekend with manager Thomas Frank confirming after the match that Maddison had injured the same knee that ruled him out of the Europa League final victory against Manchester United in May.
Since he returned from Asia on Monday, Maddison has had tests to ascertain the severity of the injury.
HEARTBREAK for James Maddison, who is forced off the pitch on a stretcher after just returning from injury for Spurs 🤕
Get well soon James ❤️ pic.twitter.com/r1JcVcKtSn
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) August 3, 2025
We can confirm that James Maddison will undergo surgery for a ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his right knee.
We will be supporting you every step of the way, Madders 🤍
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 7, 2025
Manager Thomas Frank faces challenges with Maddison’s absence and Son Heung-min’s departure, prompting Spurs to consider signing a new attacking midfielder, with Mohammed Kudus seen as a potential option for the time being at least.
Tottenham have issued the following statement via their website: “We can confirm that James Maddison will undergo surgery for a ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his right knee.
“The 28-year-old midfielder suffered the injury during our pre-season friendly against Newcastle United on Sunday in Seoul.
“His surgery will take place in the coming days and, following that, James will then begin his rehabilitation with our medical team.
“Everyone at Tottenham Hotspur wishes James a full and speedy recovery. We will be supporting him every step of the way.”
(🥇) 🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING: James Maddison has suffered an ACL injury and requires surgery! @SamiMokbel_BBC pic.twitter.com/eb0tROP7x3
— Spurs Army (@SpursArmyTweets) August 7, 2025
Frank said after the game: “It looks like with Madders a bad injury and then on the other side unbelievable scenes for Son from his team-mates and the respect from the Newcastle players [who gave Son a guard of honour].
“We’re pretty sure it was the same knee he [Maddison] injured before.
“Sometimes in life and in football, things can be both beautiful and brutal. That’s what we got today [in that game].
“It looks like with Madders a bad injury and then on the other side unbelievable scenes for Son [Heung-min] from his team-mates and the respect from the Newcastle players.”
Here’s how fans reacted to reports that James Maddison is to miss the majority of the 2025/26 season with a torn ACL in last weekend’s pre-season friendly…
@Joe_DMB: Wishing you a swift recovery, @Madders10. Same knee. Questions have to be asked why he was out there though as he clearly shouldn’t have been.
@desTHFC: Get well soon Madders!! Yous better get the finger out with signings lads, no Kulu and Maddison is a massive one! A proper number 10 is needed NOW!!
@g2mcc: That’s very disappointing news. Strength and support to Madders at this difficult time. The club needs to strengthen the squad to cover for the losses of two huge players in the past day. That’s almost 50 goal contributions last season no longer available.
@essexLADtb27: Awful news! Get well madders. Now let’s go out there and get an elite number 10 this team desperately needs to provide a creative spark
@Stu__thfc: Sad news. Anyway I’m so glad this club had the ability to bring on NO ONE to replace him
@dwoodley1990: Devastating news 😢😫 Speedy recovery, @Madders10 🤍⚽️
@stevejnorris: Get well soon @Madders10
@CraigDrury79: Gutted for you @Madders10 hoping for a speedy recovery. See you in a Spurs shirt soon 🤞
@peterdavid1953: That’s rubbish news. Best of luck in your recovery Madders. Look forward to seeing you back playing as soon as possible 🤍🤍
@leon_dave_smith: Speedy recovery Madders. I assume we will be signing a replacement before the season starts next week 🤔
@heyit5sam: Out all season, no chance of making the England squad for the World Cup. And for what? A banter friendly in the far east. Maybe, just maybe FA cup replays weren’t the problem
@k02108: Unless Eze has said “not interested whatsoever” then there is ZERO reason why we should pay what Palace want for him (£68m). We apparently had £60m for MGW so what’s the hold up lads??? If there was ever a time to go after someone fully. It’s NOW.
@Trevorlloyd92: Good luck with the recovery Madders. Desperately need a 10 now lads…. anytime soon would be great…
@Daily_Hotspur: Son Heung-min managed 23 goal contributions, James Maddison the same. That is a lot of goals for #thfc to lose, but of course, we won’t act like an ambitious club and replace them.
@ctsmclovinya: All the best, Madders. Seems to be endless right now. Hope we don’t let you down in your absence and we sign an actual replacement…
@RichardDavies20: Gutted for you @Madders10 gonna miss you out there! speedy recovery hopefully see you sometime towards the end of the season ♥️
@nickty61: Never ending, but sadly time to build Spurs without him. Such a shame as he’s a beautiful player to watch. Critical we now buy a top first choice 10 & still looking one shy at FB cover.
@Wazza1882: So unlucky for James Maddison. 29 in November and will come back fit ready for a new season when he turns 30. We should be succession buying right now. Eze is the obvious choice, but we need a top notch ready made hero. But like what Van der Vaart was to us.
