James Maddison: First Tottenham pictures as Spurs kickstart Ange Postecoglou era with £40m transfer

Tottenham have wasted little time in properly kickstarting the Ange Postecoglou era.

Spurs confirmed the signing of James Maddison on Wednesday night, following hot on the heels of north London rivals Arsenal finally announcing their £65million capture of German forward Kai Havertz from Chelsea.

It is an impressive statement of early intent from Tottenham, who have now sealed two transfers in as many days after Italian goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario officially joined from Serie A side Empoli for £17m on Tuesday.

Spurs - who also converted Dejan Kulusevski’s 18-month loan stint from Juventus into a permanent deal earlier in June - will pay £40m for Maddison, who passed a medical earlier on Wednesday after flying in from a post-season holiday in Ibiza and has penned a five-year contract through the summer of 2028.

The England international playmaker, 26, had entered the final 12 months of his previous deal at Leicester and had widely been expected to depart this summer following the Foxes’ relegation from the Premier League last season.

Tottenham - having followed the player since his days at Coventry and twice missed the chance to acquire him previously - were initially battling with Newcastle for the signing of Maddison, until the Magpies cooled their interest and instead turned to Sandro Tonali of AC Milan.

Postecoglou will hope that Maddison can be central to the exciting, attacking brand of football he wants to bring from Celtic to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, fitting in seamlessly with a star-studded attack that already includes the likes of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son, Kulusevski and Richarlison, as well as perhaps helping to convince in-demand England team-mate Kane to stick around.

Harry Winks is set to go the other way from Tottenham to Leicester in a separate deal, while Tottenham are also looking to bolster their defence amid ongoing talks with Bayer Leverkusen's Edmond Tapsoba.

Spurs are also being heavily linked with Dutch centre-back Micky van de Ven at Wolfsburg and are interested in re-signing Clement Lenglet following his season-long loan spell from Barcelona in 2022/23.

Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page to see the first official pictures of James Maddison as a Tottenham player!