Magic Madders: Realising His Dreams At Leicester City
This week's announcement of a new four-year contract at King Power Stadium is just the latest landmark to be added to a timeline of events which has seen the supremely confident attacking midfielder establish himself among the Premier League’s most admired players.
Maddison grew up in Coventry and he began his football journey among his hometown club’s academy system before breaking into the Sky Blues’ first team in the summer of 2014. His potential quickly became apparent and, after five cameo appearances, the 17-year-old, wearing the No.34 shirt, scored a free-kick on his full debut for Steven Pressley’s side.
All the trademarks of the modern-day Maddison were there; the deft touch, an inspired vision and pin-point accuracy defined his early days in the Football League. A raw confidence also fuelled his belief that he would one day realise those childhood dreams.
It didn’t take long for his ability to alert a host of clubs and, in the winter of 2016, Premier League outfit Norwich City made their move, before allowing him to return to Coventry on loan.
Ryan Bennett, on a loan deal of his own at King Power Stadium at the end of 2019/20, was a team-mate of Maddison’s at Norwich and, speaking the Club’s official quarterly magazine, LCFCQ, he recalled how the youngster’s confidence struck everybody at the Norfolk club – even then.
“There’s one thing I’ll always remember about his time at Norwich and he’d probably tell you the same,” Bennett explained. “He’s a frustrating player to play against because of the way he twists and turns. There was one training session and he was only young, and I was obviously a bit older... and he turned and said something about how easy it was.
“My head was all over the gaff and I picked him up and just dumped him on the floor! I remember coming in, feeling bad, and seeing he’s got ice on his jaw! He’ll remember that as well and we joke about it, but obviously seeing the way he progressed was great.
“He’d gone to Aberdeen and did well and people wanted him back quicker than they could get him back, but he got his chance and that was all he needed. When he got that opportunity, the rest is history for him. You can see what he’s doing now, and he’s been brilliant.”
That stint at Aberdeen included a late winner – another free-kick – against Rangers and was followed by a 14-goal haul for Norwich in the Championship during the 2017/18 season.
The Canaries missed out on promotion and Leicester, under the management of Claude Puel, made the decision to follow up their interest with a move for the England youth international.
Maddison settled in quickly, buying into the Club’s culture, its long-term ambition to achieve success and to challenge at the upper end of the Premier League standings. His debut, at Old Trafford against Manchester United, offered a glimpse of the impact he would come to have on the top-flight and it wasn’t long before he was writing his own back-page headlines.
Making his maiden Filbert Way appearance a week later, Maddison sent a smartly executed effort past Rui Patrício in a 2-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. More goals followed – against AFC Bournemouth and Huddersfield Town – before a simply stunning strike at home to Watford in December.
King Power Stadium rose to its feet when, in the 23rd minute against the Hornets, Maddison scooped up a high ball from Marc Albrighton, took a touch, and slammed a fearsome volley into the back of the net.
A double header of breath-taking free-kicks in successive away games against Burnley and Huddersfield over March and April saw his stock rise even higher. In the past, he’d have been among the most sought-after Match Attax cards on school playgrounds, but in the modern world, he was a starter for thousands of Fantasy Premier League players around the world.
The numbers were impressive, too. He was the only player to create 100 chances in the Premier League in 2018/19, and the first Englishman to do so since Everton left-back Leighton Baines in 2012/13.
Maddison’s friendship with fellow England youth products Ben Chilwell and Demarai Gray, meanwhile, is well-documented, but he has forged strong relationships with the entire squad at City. That camaraderie has been central to Brendan Rodgers’ strategy – fusing a close-knit dressing room with a desire to develop their talents and the quality to back up their aspirations.
Early on in the 2019/20 season, those elements were harnessed in extraordinary fashion as City embarked on a record-breaking run of results, winning eight games in a row, featuring a historic 9-0 triumph over Southampton – including another Maddison free-kick – in November 2019.
Many of Leicester’s most memorable recent results – victories over Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Newcastle United to name a few – all ended with Maddison’s name on the scoresheet.
On 14 November, in the 56th minute of a UEFA European Championship qualifier at Wembley Stadium, Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate turned to his bench and indicated that the time had finally come for the 23-year-old to make his international debut.
England won the game 7-0 and Maddison took to social media to share a photograph of him as a child, wearing the shirt adorned at the 2006 World Cup. No doubt, he’d have been heartbroken, like the rest of the country, when Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher missed their penalties against Portugal. Now, he was the 1,245th player to wear the shirt in England’s 1,000th game.
“A young lad from Coventry with a dream [sic],” he wrote. “Last night I fulfilled that dream of playing for my country @england can’t begin to try and describe the satisfaction it gave me.”
It was the culmination of a childhood dream, an objective years in the making, and the result of years of sacrifice as Maddison became just the latest Fox to break into England’s senior team as he joined Man of the Match Chilwell on the famous Wembley turf.
Speaking more recently, via video call before the 2019/20 season’s restart, he said: “It's been brilliant (at Leicester City). It’s gone better than I could ever have imagined to be honest.
“If I think back four years ago, I was on loan at Aberdeen from Norwich and now I’m playing every week in the Premier League and that’s all I always wanted to do. It’s been a whirlwind two years and I’ve loved every second of it. I feel right at home at Leicester. I feel like part of the furniture already and I love it here.
“I love the lads, I love the fans, we’ve got a great manager, so I’m very, very happy.”