Tottenham Pre-Season Finale: Maddison Returns, Big Questions Remain
Tottenham’s final pre-season run-out of the summer arrives with as many questions as answers, but at least one familiar face is back at the heart of it all.
James Maddison starts his first game of pre-season on Sunday as Spurs host Hoffenheim behind closed doors at Hotspur Way, less than 24 hours after a comfortable 3-0 win over the same Bundesliga side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
That first meeting belonged to Mikey Moore, the teenager lighting up north London on Saturday. This one is about minutes, rhythm and who can actually make it to Brentford next weekend.
Maddison back, Fernandes unleashed
Roberto De Zerbi shuffles his pack for the second clash, naming a side stacked with players who sat out the initial friendly. Maddison is the headline inclusion, handed a start after an unspecified issue delayed his return from the anterior cruciate ligament injury that wiped out most of his last campaign.
Alongside him, Mateus Fernandes finally gets the stage Spurs paid for. The £85million signing from West Ham has barely been seen since a minor calf problem cut short his involvement on the club’s pre-season tour of New Zealand and Australia. His name on the teamsheet is a welcome sight for supporters wondering how quickly he can transform their midfield.
Rodrigo Bentancur and Pape Matar Sarr also step back into action, bolstering the centre of the pitch in Enfield. On the left, Brazilian full-back Souza starts, the January arrival already attracting transfer speculation despite barely having settled in north London.
Defence patched together, kids trusted
At the back, Kevin Danso lines up again, still under the spotlight after his red card shortly after coming on in that dramatic 2-1 win over Chelsea in Sydney earlier this month. Ben Davies brings experience alongside him, a steadying presence in a back line that has been anything but settled this summer.
Brandon Austin gets the nod in goal. In front of him, the club’s production line is on show: Luca Williams-Barnett, Tye Hall and Damola Ajayi all start, while the bench is sprinkled with youth, including highly rated 15-year-old goalkeeper Mikel Jack.
It is a mixed XI: senior players chasing sharpness, big-money signings searching for fluency, and academy prospects tasting a level they all want to call home.
Big absences before Brentford
The optimism around returning names is checked by the list of those still missing. With the Premier League opener at Brentford looming next weekend, Spurs fans will not enjoy the continued absence of Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie. Neither defender has played a single minute of pre-season, a glaring concern for a team that leaned heavily on their pace and aggression last year.
Up front, Dominic Solanke remains out of the picture. The striker has not featured since playing 45 minutes against Chelsea on August 1 in his second outing of the summer. Mohammed Kudus is also still sidelined from match action, not yet ready to play despite rejoining training after recovering from a serious quad injury.
Dejan Kulusevski is back on the grass as well after a knee problem that has kept him out since May 2025, but his return to competitive football is not imminent. Pedro Porro, meanwhile, has yet to feature at all in pre-season, only just returning this week from an extended break following Spain’s World Cup triumph.
So Tottenham head into their final friendly split in two: one group trying to find their stride just in time, another racing the clock simply to make kick-off next weekend. Which side of that divide decides their start to the season?
