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James Maddison was pictured back on the grass and with the ball at his feet on Monday as he continues to recover from the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury he suffered in August
James Maddison has paid tribute to Tottenham teammate Mohammed Kudus and iconic Spurs midfielder Rafael van der Vaart in a training video as he continues to recover from injury.
Maddison, 29, has not featured for Thomas Frank's side since August after rupturing his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) during a pre-season friendly against Newcastle United in South Korea. The England international underwent surgery and has since been working his way back to fitness.
Although the former Leicester man is expected to remain out for several more months as he carries on his rehabilitation, he shared a video of himself with the ball back at his feet on Monday.
While wearing a replica shirt from the 2011/12 season with Van der Vaart's name on the back, Maddison was spotted training in some winter heat, performing a non-contact drill with a mannequin in the background.
Indeed, the midfielder was seen cutting inside and out and then back on to his favoured right foot before reversing an inch-perfect strike into the corner. He then appeared to dedicate the goal to teammate Kudus, who is set for a three-month spell out after sustaining an injury against Sunderland earlier this month.
Maddison ran over to a chair behind the goal before performing Kudus' trademark celebration. In a caption on the post - which was shared on TikTok, Maddison said: "My guy Kudus [chair emoji and white love heart emoji]."
After scoring 12 goals and providing 11 assists in 45 appearances for Tottenham last season, Maddison was hoping to kick on and continue his form into 2025/26 with a World Cup around the corner.
However, Maddison last featured in a competitive game for Spurs now in April and is not expected to return until the back end of this season. Speaking about his recovery from his ACL injury, Maddison said last month: "When I realised, obviously, I was going to be out for the majority of the season, if not the whole season, that kind of crushed that dream of going to the World Cup. It was a tough one to take.
"That's the cons of football and one of the negatives of missing out through injury. It's about dealing with that mentally. And that's partly why there's been some dark days.
"You want to represent your country, you always want to be in a position, especially off the back of a good season last year. Personally, with good numbers, I felt like I was close with Thomas Tuchel coming in.
"The first and foremost thing for me is just to come back safely and be fit. It's such a long injury. There are so many ups and downs that I just want to be in a place, returning and having a smile on my face and being fit for Tottenham Hotspur, whenever that is. It's going to be towards the end of the season, so the World Cup is probably going to be ruled out, if not definitely. So, it's one of them things.
"As I said, I'll take it on the chin and, yeah, it's one of those things that will drive me going forward."
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