The 'disappointing' £3m factor about James Maddison leaving Coventry City for Norwich raised | OneFootball

The potential of James Maddison was recognised early on at Coventry City, but they will wish they got more for him.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Many players come through EFL clubs and their academies as players that appear to be run of the mill before accelerating towards a career in the upper echelons of the game in the Premier League.

However, there are many players who come through already with a burgeoning reputation for being a potential future star and their potential being realised is simply an inevitable process.

Our FLW Coventry City Fan Pundit Chris Deez would but Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder James Maddison into the same category after he shone when coming through with the Sky Blues.

James Maddison was destined for the top after Coventry stint

Born in Coventry, James Maddison came through the City academy and made his professional debut for the club in the 2014/15 season in League One, having signed his first contract in the summer of 2013.

Maddison only played 42 games across all competitions for Coventry but the glimpses of quality he had shown, particularly in the first-half of the 2015/16 campaign, had suggested he would be a future star.

He joined Norwich City in the winter transfer window of 2016 and was immediately loaned back to Coventry until the end of the season and FLW Fan Pundit Chris suggests the only regret is how little he eventually left the club for, but his potential had been obvious from the start.

Chris says: “I think any Cov fan would be lying if they said they didn’t think that he was destined to play at the very top level.

“Maddison was a player that we absolutely loved but he didn’t actually play for us that many times, over a three-year period and then back on loan once we’d sold him to Norwich.

“He only played about 30, 35 games for us so it’s not like he was a permanent fixture in the squad.

“You could see that the quality was there. We were never going to be his ceiling, he was always going to go on to bigger and better things.

“I think one of the most disappointing things is how little we got for him. I think we only got about £3m from Norwich and, in hindsight, he was worth a lot more than that.

“He went for £20 odd million to Leicester and then £40 million to Tottenham, and that was after Leicester had got relegated as well.

“He was a little bit disappointing towards the end because I distinctly remember that once he was sold to Norwich and then loaned back to us, his game just completely changed.

“It was almost like the move had gone to his head because he had got a move to a bigger club. His performances were not nearly as good and he suddenly started to dive a lot of the time and that wasn’t really a part of his game before.

“It was disappointing the way he went out but, as a local lad, and as a Cov fan himself, I think we all wanted the best for him and we knew that wasn’t going to be in Coventry anymore.

“So, I have strongly followed his career since and I am always happy to see him do well. It’s a shame that he has had such bad injury problems the last few seasons or so, and he’s fallen out of favour in terms of the England squad as well. I do hope he can get back there at some point.”

Frustrating career for James Maddison with Leicester, Tottenham and England

Having hit 14 goals in 44 appearances in the 2017/18 Championship campaign for Norwich, the Canaries cashed in on the exciting attacking midfielder as he joined Leicester City in the summer.

Two years on from being title winners in the Premier League, the Foxes were aiming to try and become stalwarts of challenging for the European spots in the top-flight.

During his time at the King Power Stadium, Leicester won the FA Cup for the first time ever and his form even got him an England call-up and into the England squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

However, it was frustrating, too, with Leicester twice missing out on UEFA Champions League qualification on the final day of the season before Maddison then being a part of the side that was relegated in the 2022/23 campaign.

His time at Tottenham Hotspur has again perhaps been one whereby he has flattered to deceive with Spurs ending their near 20-year trophy drought with success in the UEFA Europa League last season, and Maddison having played his part earlier in the competition, but injury meaning he wasn’t available for the crucial moments, including the final, at the back end of last season.

The 28-year-old suffered an ACL injury over the summer all but ending his chances of getting into Thomas Tuchel’s 2026 FIFA World Cup squad and it is perhaps a moment in his career that summarises him best as a player who looks and should be good but the idea is often perhaps better than the reality.