Newcastle told Tottenham were always James Maddison’s preferred move

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James Maddison’s move to Tottenham called an end to a long-running saga for Newcastle United.

The England playmaker was the subject of bids from Newcastle last year and the links continued into this summer.

At times, it was claimed the former Leicester star actively wanted to join Eddie Howe’s team, albeit amid conflicting reports.

Still, the saga is now over.

The 26-year-old sealed what is thought to be a £40m move to Tottenham to form part of their new-look team under former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.

Newcastle, of course, will move on but comments from the Spurs boss on Maddison should be of particular interest.

Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham were James Maddison’s preferred destination

Indeed, despite the fact Spurs finished well below Newcastle and were thrashed 6-1 at St James’ Park in April, Maddison is said to have always favoured a move to north London.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Postecoglou said: “As I said, they [along with fellow new signing Guglielmo Vicario] are both really excited about coming to our football club, which is also very important.

“For footballers these days, all these decisions are really important.

“For me, part of the driver is if I can see in them that this is their preferred destination for the right reasons, that’s enormous. I could sense with both of those guys that was the case.”

Maddison has made his choice, now it’s time to show him he was wrong

Spurs are surely unlikely to be quite as bad as they were last season and could potentially rival Newcastle towards the top of the Premier League.

While Howe’s side have little reason to fear that, it’s something to consider.

So then, how sweet would it be to show Maddison what he’s missing?

To finish above Spurs two seasons in a row would be a more substantial reflection of the changing landscape of the traditional top six.

Doing it once is all well and good but the pursuit of success is relentless at the top level and to dismantle them again would be a major statement of how the land now lies.

Maddison could improve Spurs given his quality but Newcastle will move on.

Now, it’s time to show him what a bad choice that was.