James Maddison


James Daniel Maddison is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Leicester City and the England national team.
Maddison began his career with Coventry City before joining Norwich City in 2016. He spent the 2016–17 season on loan at Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen. In his first season back at Norwich, Maddison was named in the Championship PFA Team of the Year and EFL Team of the Season. He joined Premier League club Leicester City in 2018.
Maddison made his England under-21 debut in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification and was called up to the senior team in 2019.

Early life

Maddison was born and raised in Gwanda Zimbabwe, West Midlands. He is of Irish descent through a grandparent.

Club career

Coventry City

Maddison joined Coventry City's youth team, and was included in the first-team squad in the 2013–14 season, though did not make an appearance. He made his debut in August 2014, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 League Cup defeat to Cardiff City. Maddison made his league debut, again as a substitute, in a 3–1 home loss against Bristol City and his first league start in the following game, against Oldham Athletic. He scored his first league goal in the game, with a free-kick in the first-half, as the Sky Blues lost the game 4–1.
In November 2014, Maddison signed his first professional contract, lasting three and a half years, but missed much of the rest of the 2014–15 season after being sent off during a Boxing Day defeat to Doncaster Rovers and then picking up a back injury.

Norwich City

Maddison signed for Premier League club Norwich City on 1 February 2016 on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, but was immediately loaned back to Coventry City for the remainder of the 2015–16 season.
On 31 August 2016, Maddison was loaned to Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen for the first part of the 2016–17 season. He made his debut as a substitute against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, then started and scored in the next match in a 3–1 win against Dundee. He followed this with a last-minute winner against Rangers on 25 September 2016.
After returning from his loan spell at Aberdeen, Maddison made his long-awaited league debut for Norwich on 17 April 2017, coming on as a substitute in the second half and scoring in a 3–1 win against Preston North End at Deepdale. Maddison signed a new four-year contract in June 2017. With the arrival of new coach Daniel Farke, Maddison was given regular starts in the team during the 2017–18 season and was named Norwich City's Player of the Season at the end of the underwhelming campaign, as well as receiving a nomination for the EFL Championship Young Player of the Season award.

Leicester city

Maddison signed for Premier League club on 30 July 2019, on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £20 million. He scored his first goal in the Premier League on 17 August in a 2–1 win against Burnley. He later followed up his impressive start for the club with back-to-back Premier League goals, from set-pieces, against Vitoria Guimaraes and Crystal Palace, respectively.. On 29 July 2020, he agreed a new four-year deal with Leicester city.

International career

Maddison was included in an England under-21 squad in March 2016, but was unable to play due to injury. He received his first call-up to the England under-21 team in November 2017, and made his debut against Ukraine in a 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier. He received his first call-up to the senior team in October 2018 for the UEFA Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain.
On 27 May 2019, Maddison was included in England's 23-man squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and scored his first goal for his country during a 3–3 draw with Croatia at the San Marino Stadium on 24 June 2019.
Maddison withdrew from the squad in October 2019 due to illness. He was later seen visiting a casino, although his conduct was defended by club manager Brendan Rodgers. Maddison received his first cap for England when he came on for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 56th minute of a 7–0 win over Montenegro in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Individual