James Maddison faces a long period on the sidelines after Tottenham confirmed the midfielder had ruptured an anterior cruciate knee ligament. The England international sustained the injury during a pre-season game against Newcastle in Seoul and is to have an operation.
Spurs said: “We can confirm that James Maddison will undergo surgery for a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee … 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.”
Maddison collapsed in pain with no one around him and left the pitch on a stretcher in the 86th minute. The 28-year-old missed the end of last season with a knee injury but returned last month to feature under the new head coach, Thomas Frank.
His creative role could be filled by Mohammed Kudus, the 25-year-old Ghana international whom Spurs bought for £54.5m in the summer.
Kudus played all 90 minutes on Thursday night in a pre-season friendly as the former Spurs captain Harry Kane scored and missed a penalty in Bayern Munich’s 4-0 win over Tottenham at the Allianz Arena.
Kane put Bayern in front in the first half they dominated, latching on to a Michael Olise pass to fire home. João Palhinha, making his first start in Spurs colours since his loan move from Bayern, then gave away a penalty for a foul on Josip Stanisic, but Kane miscued his effort.
Kane had a shot cleared off the line and Luis Díaz, on his first start after his move from Liverpool, was unable to force home the rebound as Spurs held out until half-time. In the second half, Bayern continued to dominate, with Kingsley Coman, and teenagers Lennart Karl and Jonah Kusi-Asare getting on the scoresheet.
“We were obviously playing a very good team,” Frank, whose side now go to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Uefa Super Cup next Wednesday, told the Tottenham website. “Bayern in my opinion are one of the teams that probably are favourites to win the Champions League. They hit a good level, we didn’t hit a good level. That’s a bad combination but we will learn from this one.
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Colwill suffers ACL injury
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Chelsea hit by Colwill blow
The Chelsea defender Levi Colwill is set to miss a significant portion of the upcoming season after undergoing successful surgery for an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
The Blues kick off their Premier League campaign at home to Crystal Palace on 17 August but Enzo Maresca will not have the 22-year-old at his disposal after Colwill sustained the injury in training at their Cobham base.
The Colwill blow could possibly open the door for Jorrel Hato, the Blues’ new signing from Ajax.
A Chelsea statement read: “Defender Levi Colwill has today undergone successful surgery to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
“The 22-year-old had reported back to Cobham for pre-season at the start of this week, before unfortunately sustaining the injury in training.
“Medical assessments confirmed surgery would be the required course of action.
“Levi will now begin his recovery and be supported by the club’s medical department at Cobham during his rehabilitation phase.”
“I definitely got some answers that we will look into but we will calmly reflect on it after the game now and look through it. Also it seems like we lacked some energy somehow which we need to find – no team can play without that energy.
“We will 100% be ready for that [the Super Cup], I’m not in doubt about that. There are six days ahead, we have a normal week for the first time in the last two weeks so with everything – just getting down, less travel, energise them, three or four good sessions – then we will be ready against PSG.”
Meanwhile, West Ham have confirmed Michail Antonio will not be signing a new contract. Antonio’s deal expired at the end of June but West Ham did not rule out keeping the forward, who is playing again after a serious car crash. They said on 8 June that an announcement would be made when “right and appropriate”. Antonio has played 45 minutes for the under-21 development team during pre-season.
The 35-year-old joined from Nottingham Forest in 2015 and made 323 appearances, scoring 83 goals. West Ham said: “The club will continue to support and assist him in his ongoing rehabilitation, offering him access to training, facilities and medical care if needed.
“Dialogue continues over his future involvement with the club in an alternative capacity – including one that would enable others to benefit from his experience and leadership qualities – and he will for ever hold a special place in our 130-year history. Everyone at West Ham would like to sincerely thank Michail for his outstanding, dedicated service in a claret-and-blue shirt over the last 10 years.”
