Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder James Maddison is one of the players fans are most excited to see in the 2026/27 Premier League season, because even though the former Leicester City man actually isn't a starter in the team's best XI, he will be the best player in that No. 10 hole and one of the most important attacking pieces on the team when the season starts as Xavi Simons tore his ACL at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
Maddison himself is coming off an ACL tear at the end of the 2024/25 season, and while he did make it back on the pitch at the end of the last campaign, he never actually got to start a game as he was easing his way back from the major injury.
At the age of 29, Madders is in the final few years of his prime, and with all the injuries Spurs have been hit by over the last few seasons, Roberto De Zerbi and the organization are not taking any chances with their players. Maddison has not been featuring in the preseason, and he's actually still being plagued by other nagging issues.
James Maddison won't be the main man to start the season
Based on what we have seen in the preseason, the truth is that Maddison is not ready to start every game for Tottenham, and he actually isn't ready to start on Matchday 1 against Brentford if he's not been tuning up thus far with these nagging issues. Conor Gallagher has been featuring a lot in starting lineups, and as we saw last season during the relegation battle, De Zerbi loves Gallagher as a player and is more than comfortable utilizing him as a more pressing, defensive No. 10.
Gallagher played well enough to rehabilitate his image somewhat down the stretch of the season under a much better coach, but Tottenham Hotspur supporters remain unconvinced by both the England international and the 40 million euro price tag that Spurs coughed up to sign him from Atletico Madrid over Premier League rivals Aston Villa.
But with James Maddison still working his way back to full fitness and understandably not one Roberto De Zerbi wants to rush back due to his quality and long term importance to Spurs making the top five in the 2026/27 season, Spurs fans should then expect to see a lot more of Conor Gallagher than they may have expected, particularly as a starter in the opening month of the season in that No. 10 slot.
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