Harry Kane hope for Spurs? James Maddison explains why striker could return to Premier League & how he would happily have kept No.71 shirt at Tottenham

The England captain severed career-long ties with Spurs in the summer of 2023 when completing a €100 million (£86m/$109m) transfer to Germany. He is committed to a four-year contract at the Allianz Arena, but will only be 34 when that deal comes to a close. Tottenham have a buy-back option on their all-time leading scorer and Maddison can see him returning to the English top-flight in a bid to chase down Alan Shearer’s goal record.

Current Spurs star Maddison has told Amazon Prime: “One of the positives (with me coming to Spurs) was Harry Kane being our No.9. In my opinion he’s the best nine in the world. He is showing that now – his numbers are ridiculous. But I knew there was a chance he might leave. There was a lot of talk. Me and Harry had chats in England camps. I think Harry would have been happy to stay as well. The feeling I got was that he was actually happy either way. I had a decision to make. I’m really happy for him to go to a top club. Did I want him to stay? Of course I did. He’s not over reliant on pace so I could see him playing for years and years and it wouldn’t surprise me if he had his eye on that goal scoring record in the Prem.”

Maddison is now wearing the No.10 shirt in north London that Kane left behind, but the 27-year-old playmaker says he would happily have stuck with the unusual number that he was given in pre-season. Maddison added: “It all happened so quick. Me and H had a bit of banter. I was wearing No.71 in pre-season and I was getting a bit of stick. We wanted to see and weigh up what number I was going to wear. There was a bit of banter – ‘Madders, are you waiting for Harry to go?’ I would have stayed 71 believe me to keep him.”

Maddison made an immediate impact at Tottenham on the back of his transfer from Leicester, with three goals and five assists recorded through 12 appearances in all competitions, but he is now working his way back from a serious ankle injury that could keep him out of action until the spring of 2024.

Prime Video is broadcasting 20 Premier League fixtures this season, including a full round of fixtures in December, featuring matches such as Luton vs Arsenal, Spurs vs West Ham, Manchester United vs Chelsea and Aston Villa vs Manchester City – plus every Boxing Day match.