Lee Hendrie has admitted he was slightly ‘sceptical’ over Tottenham Hotspur star James Maddison before the season got underway.
The pundit has been speaking to realsport and feels Maddison may have been ‘too comfortable’ at Leicester City.
Maddison has enjoyed a brilliant start to life in North London having registered four goal contributions in as many Premier League appearances.
The 26-year-old made the switch from the King Power Stadium to Tottenham over the summer, with Ange Postecoglou’s men parting with £40 million to land the talented midfielder.
He had impressed at Leicester beforehand, despite the Foxes suffering relegation last time out.
Yet, Hendrie has admitted he previously had doubts over Maddison but feels the midfielder has benefitted massively from a change of scenery.
Hendrie on Maddison
Speaking on realsport News, Hendrie heaped praise on Maddison for the impact he’s made at Spurs so far.
“I was a bit sceptical of Maddison, I’m not going to lie,” the pundit said. “I think he’s a fantastic talent, I really do.
“I think he’s been stood still, maybe a little bit too comfortable at Leicester. I feel he had to make that move but I think this season, he looks like he’s got to that stage where I think the penny has dropped for him a little bit.
“He’s looked at the likes of Grealish, Foden and that attacking flair in the England squad. All of a sudden, he’s back to light.
“He’s enjoying his football, when you’re enjoying your football things like this come off and it seems to happen naturally.
“He looks fit, he looks sharp. But I want to see him coming up against the top-calibre clubs where he can do and prove that against them. I think he should be doing that.”
Maddison’s displays have taken many by surprise given how quickly he’s settled in at Spurs.
The England international seems like the perfect fit for Ange Postecoglou’s attacking system and he’s helped to fill the creative void left by Harry Kane.
Of course, it’s still early days in terms of Maddison’s Tottenham career. But he looks the part at this moment in time and Spurs are in a good place under Postecoglou.
