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Tottenham playmaker James Maddison suffered a nightmare injury blow and was forced off on a stretcher just two weeks before the start of the new season.

Maddison was a late substitute in Spurs’ 1-1 pre-season draw with Newcastle in South Korea but pulled up sharply off the ball and staggered over to the side of the pitch.

Visibly in agony, he placed his hands on his head before collapsing to the floor in a heap. He was then taken off on a stretcher in front of his distraught team-mates.

Head coach Thomas Frank said it looked a ‘bad’ injury and labelled the cruel setback, which came shortly after Maddison returned to fitness, as ‘brutal’.

Frank also believes it was likely an issue to the same knee Maddison injured back in May. That setback saw him miss the run-in, and Spurs’ Europa League final triumph.

The issue appeared to come from a routine challenge involving Anthony Elanga in the 83rd minute. Despite not appearing to make contact, Maddison immediately appeared in discomfort and signalled to the bench, allowing medics to scramble on.

An emotional farewell for Spurs legend Son Heung-min quickly became overshadowed by Maddison’s latest injury torment. 

Son, who had been subbed off and given a tearful guard of honour by both teams, looked concerned for the midfielder as he watched on from the bench.

Maddison had only just been introduced himself in place of Archie Gray but had to be replaced by South Korean youngster Yang Min-hyeok once he was carried away.

The exact extent of his injury – and subsequent recovery time on the treatment table – has not been officially confirmed, but Frank was notably downbeat post-match.

‘Sometimes in life and football things can be both beautiful and brutal,’ said Frank.

‘That’s what we got today. It looks like with Madders a bad injury and then on the other side unbelievable scenes for Son from his team-mates and the respect from the Newcastle players. We’re pretty sure it was the same knee he injured before.’

Maddison endured an injury-hit 2024-25 campaign after an ankle issue led to him being ruled out for two months between November and January. A problem with his right knee then resulted in him sitting out for the end of the season.

The news will come as a devastating blow for Frank, who will be without Dejan Kulusevski at the start of the season. He also saw top creative target Morgan Gibbs-White commit his future to Nottingham Forest despite Spurs’ approach. 

Mohammed Kudus was brought in to reinforce that department in a £55million deal from West Ham while Mathys Tel was signed permanently from Bayern Munich. 

Meanwhile, Mail Sport reported that Spurs have been finalising terms with Bayern over midfielder Joao Palhinha, who has top-flight experience with Fulham.

Spurs take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup next Wednesday before beginning the new Premier League season at home to Burnley next Saturday. 

Son is likely to have departed the club before those fixtures after announcing his departure at a press conference on Saturday.  

He said: ‘Before we start the press conference, I wanted to say I have decided to leave the club this summer. Respectfully the club is helping me with this decision.

‘It was the most difficult decision I have made in my career. Such amazing memories. It was so hard to make the decision.

‘I need a new environment to push myself. I need a little bit of change – 10 years is a long time. I came to north London as a kid, 23 years old, such a young age. I leave this club as a grown man, a very proud man.

‘I want to say thank you to all the Spurs fans for giving me so much love. I hope the goodbye is also good timing and this is the right time to make that decision. I hope everyone can accept and respect that.’