Tottenham Hotspur playmaker James Maddison is reportedly set to miss the remainder of the season with the serious knee injury he suffered against Bodo/Glimt last week.
The 28-year-old scored Spurs' second goal in their 3-1 win over the Norwegian side in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final, but he was then forced off in the 65th minute with the issue.
There was not any serious concern about Maddison's condition at the time, but Ange Postecoglou took a pessimistic view on his injury following Sunday's 1-1 draw with West Ham United in the Premier League.
The Australian admitted that the initial assessments of Maddison's injury did not look promising, plunging his availability for Thursday's second leg with Bodo/Glimt into serious doubt.
An official diagnosis on the midfielder's issue is yet to arrive, but according to talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook, Maddison is set to sit out the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.
Tottenham games Maddison will miss with knee injury
© Imago
Crook adds that results from Maddison's scans are expected to arrive within the next 24 hours, but there are fears that the 28-year-old picked up a 'significant' problem in the Europa League.
As a result, Maddison will not be available for Thursday's second-leg clash with Bodo/Glimt, or the prospective final with either Manchester United or Athletic Bilbao - likely the former - in Bilbao on May 21.
Spurs also have three games left in their Premier League season; at home to Crystal Palace (May 11), away to Aston Villa (May 18) and at home to Brighton & Hove Albion (May 25), and the midfielder will watch on from the sidelines in all of those matches too.
There is also the possibility that Maddison's injury could be serious enough to rule him out of pre-season and the start of the 2025-26 campaign; the Premier League fixture list for the new season will be released on June 18.
Maddison is now the third Tottenham player out for the season alongside Lucas Bergvall (ankle) and Radu Dragusin (ACL), while Son Heung-min (foot) is also a serious doubt for the second leg.
However, Postecoglou was at least able to deliver a positive update on Dominic Solanke on Sunday, claiming that the Englishman should be fit for Thursday's game after taking a knock last week.
How big a blow is Maddison's absence?
© Imago
The case of Maddison has certainly been a curious one throughout the 2024-25 season, as the ex-Leicester City man has often been benched by Postecoglou, but the statistics tell the story of his importance.
The playmaker has produced 23 direct goal contributions from 45 appearances - 12 of his own and 11 assists - and he has been making his mark consistently in the Europa League, especially in the knockout rounds.
Maddison's goal in the first leg with Bodo/Glimt saw him either score or assist for the fourth continental game in a row, having also set up both of Tottenham's strikes over the two-legged quarter-final with Eintracht Frankfurt, and Spurs will miss him to no end.
Dejan Kulusevski is a like-for-like replacement, but the Sweden international has not hit top form since recovering from a foot injury, so as was the case in Frankfurt, defence should be the best form of attack for Spurs on Thursday.
Ben Knapton
