The Sun reports that Norwich City midfielder James Maddison has decided to sign for Leicester City over Southampton. The Premier League duo both agreed a fee of £24million in recent days, but the England Under-21 star wishes to move to the King Power Stadium.
Maddison netted 15 goals last season as Daniel Farke guided the Canaries to a mid-table finish in his first season in English management. The impact that the ex-Coventry City starlet made was certainly the highlight of their campaign, but they will be losing him. Maddison is primed to sign a five-year contract with the Foxes.
This news will serve as huge disappointment to Mark Hughes at Southampton, who had been hoping to make the talented offensive midfielder as one of his prime summer signings. Nevertheless, this is to Leicester’s gain, especially as they are expected to lose Riyad Mahrez as well, with Manchester City strongly linked with the Algerian.
It has been an exciting summer for Leicester fans so far, having already added Jonny Evans and Ricardo Pereira to their roster so far. Only Manchester United have spent more money at this stage. Claude Puel is looking to reduce the gap between the European qualification places.
As for Norwich, where do they go now? They should certainly at least have a decent sized pot of money to spend in order to replace Maddison, and have others to contribute within the squad too. Farke and sporting director Stuart Webber perhaps won’t be too surprised to see Maddison move on, but replacing him is no easy task.
