James Maddison’s presence for Tottenham has largely been hit by fitness issues.
While many Tottenham Hotspur supporters have already written off the 2025/26 season, Thomas Frank will know that the ongoing January transfer window can end up defining how the rest of this campaign pans out at Hotspur Way.
The Lilywhites will go into this weekend’s FA Cup tie against Aston Villa sitting 14th in the Premier League table, having only a couple of wins to show for in their last 12 league games.
And one of the impending concerns for the North Londoners in this ongoing slump of form has been goals, or, to be more precise, the lack of them. That is where the Lilywhites need to use this ongoing winter window smartly. And it looks like that is exactly what the hierarchy at Hotspur Way is doing.
Tottenham make bid to sign Premier League midfielder to aid goal problems
According to a recent report by Torcida Flamengo in Brazil, the Lilywhites have entered the race to sign 5 G/A (2025-26 PL) West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta. The North Londoners are said to have made a bid around €30m (£26m) to grab his signature this winter. While Flamengo are hopeful of re-signing the Brazilian, the bid from Tottenham shows that they are positioning themselves as genuine contenders to sign him.
The 28-year-old is frustrated at the London Stadium, given how his current employers are struggling under Nuno Espirito Santo and have been flirting with relegation. So, for them to convince him to stay looks quite difficult at the moment, especially if one of the big six comes calling.
The thing that sets Paqueta apart from many creative midfielders is that he is more of an all-round player. He is not someone who waits for the ball to come to him to weave his magic wand; instead, he presses, he tackles, he retrieves the ball, and then he advances with purpose. And we know how the Lilywhites do need a bit of paucity in the Spurs midfield, and Paqueta does have the capacity to inject some of that bite back into the team.
But that being said, if we think about this in the long run, his presence would represent a far bigger question mark, one that would directly bear on James Maddison.
The James Maddison situation
The former Leicester City midfielder has been quite unfortunate since signing for Tottenham, with injuries disrupting his presence on the roster. And given that he is 29, returning from a long-term setback of a kind that he suffered is never straightforward.
Paqueta comes in match-ready and, more importantly, hungry to prove his quality in the Champions League.
When you look into it, their profiles overlap a lot as well. Both are creative hubs that like to operate between the lines whilst linking that second phase to attack. And both of them thrive on responsibility. And underlying numbers showcase that as well. Both Maddison and Paqueta average the same number of shots and key passes per game. Both create big chances. But then, when it comes to the defensive side of the game (ball recoveries, duels won and defensive actions), Paqueta edges Maddison, and this is something that Thomas Frank values highly.
With Dejan Kulusevski nearing a possible return after a long layoff, while Xavi Simons continues to settle in at Hotspur Way alongside the younger midfielders like Lucas Bergvall pushing for minutes, signing Paqueta on top would mean that Maddison could find himself returning from injury to a very different landscape.
Signing Paqueta could mean that the North Londoners would be looking to ship away James Maddison if that opportunity were to arise in the upcoming summer window. And this will not be a sentimental decision but more of a strategic one.
Author Opinion
Tottenham have already dealt with the Hammers once this season, bringing in Mohammed Kudus from West Ham in the summer window. So if the North Londoners believe that Paqueta will add that potency, that move will hopefully come around this winter even if it quietly signals the beginning of the end for Maddison’s time at Tottenham.
Given that we have seen the club talk a lot about process and project, this transfer feels more like one where the club may finally choose some immediate impact over patience.
