Tottenham star James Maddison makes Jude Bellingham feelings clear with one-word message
Tottenham star James Maddison has sent another message to Real Madrid star and England national team-mate Jude Bellingham. The 27-year-old, like Bellingham, joined a new club last summer with Spurs forking out £40million for his services to sign him from Leicester.
A lightening start to Maddison's career in north London hit an unfortunate stumbling block in November because of an ankle injury. Just under three months later, Maddison returned but he has significantly struggled to match his pre-injury levels of form with just three goal contributions arriving in his last 14 games.
Following on from a number of early substitutions, Ange Postecoglou then dropped Maddison to the bench for the clash against Chelsea earlier this week. "I thought we needed to freshen up the team," Postecoglou revealed when asked why Maddison did not start.
"I thought we needed some legs today as they've obviously got a real mobile and quick front three/four and I just felt we needed some legs in the midfield. With Biss and Pape coming in, and Deki, I thought it would help us. Fair to say it didn’t work though."
While Maddison has struggled, his close friend Bellingham has continued thriving in Spain. In Saturday's 3-0 win over Cadiz, Bellingham came off the bench and scored with that result and Barcelona's defeat to Girona wrapping up the La Liga title for Madrid.
After the game, Bellingham posted to social media in celebration of the league triumph with a photo of him and his Mum in the Bernabeu. As the caption for his Instagram post, Bellingham wrote: "Campeones de España! [trophy emoji] HALA MADRID! [white heart emoji]." Maddison, along with the likes of Jordan Henderson and Jadon Sancho, then replied to the post with a clapping hands emoji.
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The midfield duo have grown close while in action for the Three Lions with their strong relationship away from football proving valuable on the pitch. Back in March, off the bench, Maddison assisted Bellingham's late goal to salvage a 2-2 draw in an international friendly against Belgium.
Given his recent form, Maddison's spot at this summer's European championships may be in jeopardy, however Bellingham, if injuries are avoided, will undoubtedly be one of the names in the starting XI.
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