Leicester City-focused journalist Rob Tanner shared his thoughts on James Maddison’s future during a recent appearance on The Athletic’s ‘5000/1’ podcast.
It may be fair to say that Maddison has been one of Leicester City’s most impressive players this season. The midfielder has scored six goals and provided three assists in the Premier League for the Foxes this term, earning an average overall rating of 7.34 from his 28 top-flight appearances according to WhoScored, who rank him as Leicester’s third-highest rated player in the league for the 2019/20 campaign.
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Having earned such a high average overall rating while featuring in 28 of the Foxes’ 29 league games so far, it may be fair to say that the 23-year-old midfielder performed a significant role in helping Leicester into their current position of third place on the Premier League table.
With nine games left to play in the 2019/20 campaign, there are currently eight points between the Foxes and fifth-placed Manchester United. With that in mind, Leicester City and the club’s fans may have UEFA Champions League qualification for next season in their sights.
Following his impressive performances this season, Adam Leventhal questioned Foxes-focused journalist Tanner over the future of Maddison, who is currently valued at £43.2m according to Transfermarkt and under contract at The King Power Stadium until 30th June 2023, during a recent edition of The Athletic’s 5000/1 podcast.
Leventhal asked Tanner: “Do you see James Maddison as the sort of player who, obviously, has lofty ambitions and may want to play for a ‘bigger’ club?
“I know that Leicester City are potentially going to end the season in the Champions League, do you think that he would toe the line and say – ‘no, I’m quite happy playing in the Champions League with Leicester City, thank you very much’?”
Tanner replied to this by stating: “I think he would sign a new contract – similar to what Harry [Maguire] did and similar to what Ben [Chilwell] did – a long-term contract and then in a year’s time, after another year of playing regular football, getting his England cap, getting himself in the England squad, playing in the Champions League with Leicester City, hopefully, I think he’ll see that he’s in no real rush at the moment.
“He’s still very young, he’s learning all the time, he’s playing with some really talented young players as well, he’s learning a lot from Brendan Rodgers.
“I think he’ll sign that contract and he’ll be happy to stay for another year even if a Man United came in for him at the moment.
“I think in a year’s time, it might be a different situation, we’ll have to see but it all depends on him”.
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TIF Thoughts…
Considering how significant of a player he has been for the Foxes this term, Tanner’s comments about Maddison’s future may go down well with many Leicester City fans.
If the Foxes do qualify for next season’s Champions League, the club’s supporters may fancy their chances of performing well in the competition if they can retain the services of players like Maddison who helped them to earn their place in Europe.