Tottenham star James Maddison makes Jordan Henderson feelings clear in eight-word message

James Maddison and Jordan Henderson caught up for brunch on Friday as the Tottenhamstar continues his recovery from an ACL injury and the Brentford man represents England on the international stage.

Maddison suffered the injury to his right knee late on in the friendly against Newcastle in South Korea on August 3. The 28-year-old is expected to miss much of the 2025/26 season but is working harder than ever to come back fitter and stronger.

Henderson, meanwhile, is enjoying life at Brentford back in the Premier League and with that has returned to the England camp under Thomas Tuchel. The former Liverpool man came on in the second half of Thursday's 3-0 win over Wales at Wembley Stadium and wore the captain's armband for the 21 minutes he was on the pitch.

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Maddison and Henderson are good friends on and off the field and met up for brunch on Friday. Sharing a picture of Henderson eating what looks to be scrambled eggs, sourdough and avocado, Maddison said on Instagram: "Brunch and coffee catch up with the skip."

Henderson shared the image to his own Instagram page with the words: "Always good to catch up with the sheriff."

While Maddison continues his recovery programme, Henderson is preparing to face Latvia in a World Cup Qualifier on Tuesday. Maddison is clearly trying to keep his spirits high through this difficult period and even on Friday evening showing the first three weeks of his recovery.

On his first visit back to Hotspur Way after his operation, the creative midfielder spoke to his team-mates. Maddison thanked both Rodrigo Bentancur and Cristian Romero for sitting with him while he was emotional inside the stadium after the game in Korea.

Spurs captain Romero simply said: "We're family." Bentancur gave Maddison a boost by explaining that his recovery was longer and he needed nine months out because the Uruguayan also damaged the meniscus in his knee, which the England international did not.

When speaking to club doctors, Maddison admitted that he is going to make sure that he is completely ready before coming back, but is hoping to return eight months after the injury which would see him back in April for the Premier League season's final couple of months.

"I've already looked [at the average time out], if it's eight months, six months isn't a question. The stage I'm at now, this needs to be right now," he said. "I'm 28, I'm going to be 29 when I return, I'm in my prime, really. These are my peak years ahead of me. I need to come back and I need to stay fit. So actually I'm not going to be pushing to say 'oh why are you taking so long', sort of thing.

"But if it gets to eight months and we're flying or whatever, if I'm in the right frame, that will allow me to play this season won't it, towards the end."