Roberto De Zerbi says that James Maddison could be ready to make his first Tottenham start in over 500 days.
The midfielder’s last start for the club came in their 3-1 win over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League semi-final in May 2025.
Since then, he has suffered two ACL tears, one in that game against Bodo and one in pre-season against Arsenal in August 2025.
De Zerbi was asked if Maddison is in a position to start for Spurs ahead of their clash against Coventry on Monday.
“Maybe. Maybe, yes.” he answered.
“Yes, I think of course you need to play many games to reach the best physical condition,” he continued. “But there are players able to be important even if they play 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes and James is one player like this.
“I think this season, right now, he’s ready to start the game. I don’t know if we start with him, but I’m waiting for that moment.”
Over the past week, between the matches against Manchester United and Coventry, Spurs went to Marbella. De Zerbi explained why he took the squad there.
“We worked on the pitch, we stayed together,” he said. We removed the phone from breakfast, lunch and dinner to stay together and to speak, because now it’s like all the time.
“We had two meetings, important meetings, speaking about football and our situation.”