Leicester and Southampton battles to sign Norwich starlet James Maddison
According to Sky Sports, both Leicester City and Southampton have had a bid £24million for Norwich midfielder James Maddison accepted, the player will now spend the next 24 hours weighing up his options as The Premier League rivals scrap over him.
The creative midfielder is also rumoured to be courted by teams like West Ham, Fulham, and Everton, but there seemed to be no real move made for him until recently.
Foxes have agreed a £24million package with Norwich, including add-ons for the 21-year-old Canaries Player of the Year after Saints agreed a similar deal yesterday.
However, it now looks like Leicester Boss Claude Puel is in the driving seat after his last-minute bid frustrated Mark Hughes attempt to complete a deal last night.
Leicester have been long-time favourites to sign the former Coventry kid, whose family still live in the Midlands.
Yet it looked as if Southampton had beaten them to the punch when the Foxes dithered over the last 24 hours, allowing Saints to gain the upper-hand last night.
However, Leicester are now pulling out all the stops to try and get the deal over the line for the England Under-21 star who made more key passes last season than Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne.
His stock rose in January when it was revealed he had created 54 chances for Norwich – more than any player in the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1
Since then it has just been a matter of time before the Canaries’ prized asset stepped up to the Premier League where a host of clubs are battling for the signature of one of England’s top young talent.
Maddison began his career with Coventry before joining Norwich in 2016. Last season in The Championship he scored 14 goals and provided 8 assists and he also won The Norwich Player of the season.