LEICESTER star James Maddison says he will not leave the Foxes to sit on the bench. Maddison is a £60million transfer target for big guns Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham. But the playmaker, 22, has warned any suitors that he wants to play. Maddison said: “I have never been happy to sit on the bench […]
LEICESTER star James Maddison says he will not leave the Foxes to sit on the bench.
Maddison is a £60million transfer target for big guns Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham.
But the playmaker, 22, has warned any suitors that he wants to play.
Maddison said: “I have never been happy to sit on the bench and never will be.
“I have always wanted to play games, whether that was in League One or the Premier League.
“When I moved to Norwich I didn’t get on the bench in the first game, then I was only a substitute.
“So I went to see the manager Alex Neil and said, ‘I can’t sit on the bench, I love playing football’. So I went on loan to Aberdeen.
“I was 18 at the time and people asked, ‘Why are you going to Aberdeen?’ Well, it was to play games.
“I felt it was the best thing for me. I could have gone back to League One but I felt like I had already done that with Coventry.
“I played 40-odd games there so I went and took a challenge with Aberdeen.”
Maddison is set to be involved in one of the longest-running transfer sagas of the summer, with Leicester under no pressure to sell the star they bought from Norwich 12 months ago for an initial £22m.
Speaking ahead of England Under-21s’ Euros opener against France tonight, he said: “What will be will be. I just take it all in my stride — that’s all I have ever done.
“When I was playing as a 17-year-old at Coventry I had speculation.
“Speculation is speculation. I just love playing football and the rest will take care of itself.”
Maddison will wear custom-made boots against Les Bleus in tribute to tragic five-year-old “best friend” Sophie Taylor, who passed away in January after battling a rare form of bone cancer.
And Maddison, who first met Sophie when he played for Norwich, will wear the Puma boots in tonight’s Group C clash.
They feature one snap of Sophie, and another of Maddison celebrating in a T-shirt with the message: “RIP Sophie, I Love You.”
