The 2024/2025 season was the most prolific goalscoring campaign that Werder Bremen playmaker Romano Schmid (168cm/5’6”, 69kg/152 lbs) has had since joining Die Werderaner from Austrian Bundesliga side Wolfsberger AC five years ago.
Schmid scored five German Bundesliga goals last term, while he also provided five league assists, his second-best-ever assist tally in the German top flight.
The 25-year-old Austria international has quietly built a solid reputation for himself as a very good playmaker among followers of the German top flight.
James Maddison (175/5’9”, 73kg/160 lbs), meanwhile, is set to miss the majority of the 2025/2026 campaign for Tottenham Hotspur after the playmaker suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in Spurs’ pre-season draw with Newcastle United last weekend.
Reports have stated that Tottenham are set to dip back into the transfer market as a result of Maddison’s injury in a bid to replace the 28-year-old Englishman, with the beginning of the new Premier League season just a week away.
The England midfielder was Spurs’ second-highest goalscorer and second-highest assist provider in the league last season.
His injury will undoubtedly throw a spanner in the works for Thomas Frank’s 2025/2026 preparations; the task of replacing him this late in the window will be no small ask for the North London side’s recruitment department.
Total Football Analysis used data to try to find the best ‘realistic’ Maddison replacement for Spurs.
We landed on the aforementioned Romano Schmid, who Transfermarkt currently values at just €17m, which is €25m less than James Maddison.
Furthermore, reports circulated earlier in the summer linking Schmid with the likes of West Ham United, Aston Villa, and Fulham for a transfer fee of as little as €15m.
His current contract status is a bit unclear, with different German sources seemingly reporting different expiry dates (2026, according to Bild and 2027, according to Kicker).
Either way, Schmid doesn’t seem tied down for the distant future at Weserstadion, and a move seems viable should Spurs see him as a worthy replacement for the injured James Maddison.
Our Romano Schmid scout report and player analysis article shares a breakdown of the Romano Schmid style of play, which makes him the best attainable James Maddison replacement on the market right now.
We’ll use data and video analysis to highlight the playmaker’s key strengths and weaknesses and outline why, if the reported price tag is accurate, he could be the steal of the summer.
Romano Schmid Data Analysis & Comparison With James Maddison
First, let’s break down James Maddison’s style of play and profile.
Our pizza chart below helps with that somewhat by providing a data-led overview of the England international’s game.
James Maddison Pizza Chart 2024/2025
Maddison enjoyed a standout campaign with Spurs last season, nearly maxing out his percentile rank in all attacking metrics on our pizza chart, as well as the ‘Dangerous Passes per 90’ metric.
Maddison also performs well above average in all possession metrics.
He doesn’t necessarily offer a ton without the ball; Maddison provides a lot of attacking output in possession from central midfield.
He’s a goalscoring threat and high-volume chance creator via his passes and dribbles.
When starting our search for the best attainable James Maddison replacements, we opted to focus on left central midfielders or central attacking midfielders who accumulated at least 1000 minutes in one of Europe’s top-five leagues over the last calendar year to filter for top-level experience.
We then removed players who have recently changed clubs, have been injured, or are too unrealistic as transfer options, mainly due to price tag or rivalry between their current club and Spurs.
We were left with about 100 players.
We landed on Romano Schmid as the best option with the help of data.
In our first scatter plot, we compared performance in a couple of custom metrics created using raw data from Wyscout.
‘Dribble Value’ is just dribbles per 90 multiplied by dribble success % in 2024/2025 divided by 100.
Meanwhile, the ‘Creativity Index’ metric is a weighted combination of certain passing metrics intended to highlight those who create lots of quality chances through their passing.
As we’re trying to find a James Maddison replacement for Spurs, we felt it was essential to include James Maddison in our scatter plots to show how our other options compare to the injured star.
There are plenty of interesting options in the top-right quadrant of our graph, such as Nico Paz of Como 1907 (already linked to Tottenham), Andy Diouf and Angelo Fulgini of RC Lens, Fermín López of Barcelona and Mikkel Damsgaard of Brentford.
However, the two standouts are James Maddison himself and Romano Schmid.
Schmid leans more heavily towards the ‘Creativity Index’ score, a testament to his creative passing quality, while Maddison scores less on that metric but more on ‘Dribble Value’.
Nevertheless, both players perform exceptionally well in the two metrics.
We also opted to create a scatter plot comparing the raw data of Progressive Passes per 90 with xG contribution per 90 (a combination of xG and xA per 90) to try to find those who, like Maddison, create a lot of chances from midfield and, at the same time, contribute significantly to their team’s ball progression.
Those in the top-right quadrant are multi-dimensional playmakers, like the injured Maddison.
Again, Romano Schmid performs very well, with a higher progressive pass volume for Werder Bremen than Maddison produced for Tottenham last term, though Maddison does beat Schmid in xG contribution.
Romano Schmid Pizza Chart 2024/2025
Looking at his pizza chart, Schmid, like Maddison, dominates our attacking metrics among the same dataset (left central midfielders in Europe’s top-five leagues, 2024/2025).
The Austria international outranks Maddison in ‘Dangerous Passes per 90’, as well as ‘Progressive Passes per 90’.
James Maddison Heat Map 2024/2025
Stylistically, the two players definitely match up, as is the case positionally.
Maddison primarily occupied the left half-space with Spurs last season, drifting to the left wing and into the ‘zone 14‘ area on occasion.
Romano Schmid Heat Map 2024/2025
Romano Schmid, meanwhile, played both at left central midfield and right central midfield, so we see some action in both the left half-space and right half-space.
Still, the left is Romano Schmid’s preferred area, as the heat map indicates.
Like Maddison, Schmid is comfortable drifting out to the wing when needed.
Romano Schmid Style Of Play
Our next section presents video analysis of Romano Schmid’s game to further outline the Werder Bremen playmaker’s key strengths and what he could bring to the table at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (or, indeed, another potentially interested club) should they make a move before the end of the transfer window.
Romano Schmid is one of those who you could describe as an artist on the ball; it’s beautiful to watch the 25-year-old get possession with time and space around him, see the gears turn in his head when he looks up and execute with the technique he has at his disposal.
He’s one of those players for whom you gain a greater appreciation the more you watch him.
For me, Schmid’s best qualities as a playmaker are his exquisite first touch and vision.
Here, Schmid receives from the left wing while his team aims to crack the opposition’s defensive structure and craft a goalscoring opportunity.
As he receives, Schmid opens his body and gets his head up to see his options.
He spots a tempting run which gives him an opportunity to complete a one-two and set his side up to attack the opposition’s penalty area.
Schmid takes the option the runner gives him, completes the one-two by threading the ball through a tight gap, and successfully gets his team into the opposition’s penalty area.
Our next example shows Schmid receiving a little more centrally.
Again, he opens up his body towards the goal when he receives and starts to get his head up to assess his playmaking options.
The 25-year-old midfielder shows off his ability to split the opposition’s backline open once more, threading the ball through a tight gap and completing a one-two with a runner from deep, setting Werder up for a decent goalscoring opportunity.
These examples show Romano Schmid’s ability to slice open the opposition’s defence and create from the edge of the final third.
These are extremely valuable skills for a team looking to compete at the top of one of Europe’s best leagues.
As stated earlier, Romano Schmid is not one-dimensional.
He’s also capable of driving his team forward in the ball progression phase when required, and he’s also well able to create chances from deep, which Figures 11-12 provide an example of.
Above, we see him receiving in the middle third.
Again, the midfielder opens his body towards goal and looks up to survey the options ahead.
With some help from the defender who badly mistimed his tackle, Schmid’s progressive pass pings towards a teammate just on the edge of the box.
This isn’t necessarily the best example of Romano Schmid’s passing range, as there was a bit of luck involved, and the midfielder slightly mishit the pass.
However, we can see Schmid’s bravery and confidence on display here, two key qualities that make him a dangerous playmaking asset from midfield.
Furthermore, Schmid does possess a varied passing range and the capacity for excellent technical execution, which further enhance his profile.
Schmid can be an excellent counterattacking asset thanks to his ability to dribble the ball at pace, ride challenges and change direction sharply.
He’s a quality dribbler and passer, capable of helping his team cover ground quickly and navigate tight areas thanks to his balance and agility.
Here, Schmid vacates the centre, losing his marker in the process, to find space where he can receive and start driving forward into the opposition’s half.
Before long, Schmid got his head up and saw an opportunity to play a teammate in behind the opposition’s high backline.
He displayed outstanding technical ability to curve the ball into the runner’s path with the outside of his right boot, a move he’s shown a preference for on a few occasions, not just this one.
The pass works well on this occasion, helping his team get in behind.
This technical quality is a great luxury for Schmid’s team, as it opens more doors to the kinds of chances the Austria international can create.
In terms of goalscoring, Schmid is capable of curving the ball with the inside of his right foot with power, usually aiming for the corners of the net.
He’s a set-piece goalscoring threat from direct free-kicks and a playmaking threat from both indirect free-kicks and corners, so he’d also bring that dimension to his new team if he were to get a transfer.
He is quite right-footed, sometimes avoiding his left foot even if it seems his left would be the better option in that particular situation.
He doesn’t offer much without the ball, though that could be improved with the right coaching.
However, if you’re looking for a central midfielder who brings output in terms of chance creation and technical soundness to your team’s midfield, Romano Schmid seems an absolute bargain for a top-five league side.
Conclusion
To conclude our analysis, Romano Schmid has a very similar profile to James Maddison, whom Spurs would be wise to consider if they intend to dip into the market for a Maddison-like replacement this month.
I’ve grown very fond of the Werder Bremen midfielder’s ability to create and his technical quality.
He’s somehow going very under the radar, but has quietly become one of the best creative midfielders in Europe’s top-five leagues.
At 25, the Austrian international is likely just at the beginning of his prime, meaning now would be a great time to sign him, especially at the bargain prices being touted.
