Birmingham City, Derby County, Sunderland all dodged same transfer bullet | OneFootball

Marcus Maddison was once the king of assists at Peterborough United, but his career went downhill very quickly

FLW take a look at how Birmingham City, Derby County and Sunderland once all dodged the same transfer bullet... at the same time.

The ‘transfer bullet’ in question is Marcus Maddison, who burst onto the scene as one of the EFL's most exciting attacking talents during his time at Peterborough United.

Over six seasons at Posh, he had 154 goal involvements in 249 appearances, which included 62 goals and 92 assists.

During an interview with Sky Sports in September 2019 it was revealed he had 18 more assists than any other player in the top four tiers of English football since the 14/15 season.

However, given the fact that Maddison received a 20-month jail sentence three years ago, what exactly went wrong in his career? And why did he not end up at Blues, Derby or Sunderland?

Why Birmingham City's two attempts to sign Marcus Maddison fell through

Birmingham City showed serious interest in snapping up Maddison from Peterborough United back in 2019, and even made two attempts to do so.

Posh’s chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, later opened up on why the deal fell through - speaking about the negotiations between the West Midlands club and legendary manager Barry Fry, who is Peterborough’s director of football.

MacAnthony said in a YouTube video, namely titled 'Jan 2020 Transfer Window', "Birmingham had been on to Barry. Birmingham offered Barry close to the £1.5m, it was £1m plus another £500,000 in add-ons and all the bits and pieces.

"But the problem with that deal is that they didn’t want to start paying until the summer. We went back to Birmingham and said ‘that doesn’t work for us, we need something now.’ We had our own business to do and with Financial Fair Play we needed that cap room.

"Then, Birmingham came back with a second offer (on January 18) and we felt at that stage he’d definitely go there because Marcus told me himself he’d definitely go to Birmingham. But then it came down to money and he didn’t want to go there. His agents dragged it out, he dragged it out and it wasn’t happening."

The Derby County and Sunderland transfer links involving Marcus Maddison

Like Birmingham City, Derby County were equally persistent suitors, with links bubbling up to the attacker year after year.

Peterborough reportedly slapped a £2.5m price tag on the playmaker in 2019 after laughing off a derisory bid from Middlesbrough, and the Rams were firmly in the mix alongside other Championship outfits.

Yet no deal materialised for Derby County, who dodged a prolonged pursuit that most likely would have ended in regret. DerbyshireLive first reported the club's interest in Maddison one year earlier, in 2018.

Sunderland entered the frame too in 2019, with rumours heating up amid calls for the then-League One club to poach him from Peterborough. Although MacAnthony always denied any negotiations took place.

During a Q&A on his Instagram story, Maddison was asked if there was any truth in the stories linking him with a move to his boyhood club. He then posted a picture of himself in Sunderland's youth kit captioned, "This is my only link to Sunderland that I know of."

The Stadium of Light move never progressed beyond speculation.

What ex-Birmingham City, Derby County and Sunderland target Marcus Maddison did to end up in jail

After all the aforementioned moves never came to fruition, Maddison joined Charlton Athletic on a free transfer in 2020 following a brief Hull City loan, but failed to establish himself.

Another loan to Bolton Wanderers in 2021 ended abruptly after just 10 goalless appearances, including a red card on debut, with his contract terminated amid welfare concerns.

Maddison quit professional football altogether that spring. Brief non-league stints at Spalding United and Darlington followed, but even those ended badly.

In September 2022, while under contract at Darlington, Maddison was involved in a drunken altercation at a kebab shop where he reportedly punched a 60-year-old woman in the face.

Darlington terminated his contract immediately upon learning of the incident. He was jailed for 20 months in August 2023 after admitting grievous bodily harm, with the judge stressing the severity of such public violence.