James Maddison drops Tottenham injury hint ahead of Brentford clash
James Maddison has dropped the biggest clue yet ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League opener against with Brentford.
The talented playmaker has struggled with fitness during Spurs' pre-season tour, leading to him being left out of some of the games.
With Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes being signed, though, there were few worries, as Roberto De Zerbi's side ended on a high with wins over Chelsea and Hoffenheim.
Many will argue that Maddison's return at the end of 2025-26 gave the team the much-needed boost to claw themselves out of relegation danger.
And if De Zerbi can keep him fit, and he replicates his stats from the 2024-25 campaign, the Lilywhites could be looking down the table, rather than up.
There is now a race against time for the 29-year-old to fit for Spurs' opening-day clash against the Bees on Saturday, 22 August, though.
James Maddison ready for Brentford vs Tottenham
All eyes are on Spurs ahead of the new season, especially after only narrowly avoiding relegation to the Championship last term.
And more importantly, it looks as though Maddison could be fit enough to feature, or even start, against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Taking to Instagram stories (19 August), the playmaker wrote: "All smiles. Ready for GW1," with a white heart, captioning images from Spurs training.
The 29-year-old's last competitive start before the ACL injury was Tottenham's 3-1 Europa League semi-final first-leg win over Bodo/Glimt on 1 May 2025.
Since then, the Lilywhites have undergone so much change, but he has been there for every step of the way, and deserves to be recognised for that.
Maddison's stats vs Brentford speak volumes
If Spurs want to get their season off to the most ideal of starts, De Zerbi will be praying that Maddison is available for selection.
Throughout his career, the 29-year-old has faced the Bees a total of 11 times across all competitions, ending up on the winning side in seven of those games.
Not only that, but he has notched five goals and five assists, proving that Brentford are one of his favourite teams to play.
Teams can't always live in the past, though. Mikey Moore and Mathys Tel have been in fine form during pre-season, so this will be the chance for them to state their case.