LEICESTER HAVE CONFIRMED the signing of midfielder James Maddison from Norwich City for a fee believed to be €27 million.
The 21-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the Foxes, which will keep him at the club until 2023. He is Leicester’s third signing of the summer, joining Portuguese full-back Ricardo Pereira and Northern Irish centre-back Jonny Evans.
Maddison becomes the record sale for a Championship club, eclipsing Britt Assombalonga’s £17.1m fee last summer.
Maddsion moves to Leicester having spent two full seasons at Norwich. He was initially signed in the winter transfer window in 2016 when the Canaries played in the Premier League, but was loaned back to previous club Coventry City before making his Norwich debut in the 2016-17 season.
A tremendous second season in the Championship saw him receive a nomination for the EFL Championship Young Player of the Year award as well as international recognition with England’s Under-21 squad, making his debut in November.
Maddison finished the season with 14 goals in the Championship for Norwich and is looking forward to testing himself at a higher level in the Premier League.
“I’m delighted. I’m really happy to be here,” he told the club’s official website. “I had a good chat with the manager about football and how he wants me to play, how he likes to play and I was sold. We talked about the type of player I am, how I’m going to fit into his style of play and everything sounded really promising. I haven’t looked back since that phone call.
“Leicester just seems like the right fit for me. I’ve got a good feel about the Club and I can’t ignore that, in my head and my heart. I felt like this was the right place for me to be, so I’m delighted and can’t wait to get started.”
Leicester boss Claude Puel has been impressed with how Maddison performed in the Championship and is confident that the 22-year-old can make an immediate impact in the Premier League.
“James is a wonderful player who is one of the most exciting young talents in English football,” Puel said.
“He made a big contribution to Norwich City last season and I’m delighted that he has decided to make the step up to the Premier League with Leicester City Football Club.
“He’s a young player who can create things in the attacking third and will give us even more possibilities in the squad. Of course, he has good ability and also good potential to develop even more, which is exciting for the team and for the supporters.”
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In fairness Semple Stadium IS the greatest sports arena in the world.
Two big cow sheds and two lumps of terracing
Only IF every other arena was destroyed!!
As a Waterford man I’d agree that Semple stadium IS the greatest sports arena in the world & Declan Browne was definitely a class act.
Tipp people, can you tell me who Skippy, Festy & Bubbles are?
Skippy is the Rabbits hero Michael Cleary.
Clare for the Jigs and Reels Tipp for the Hurlin
That’s because you are from Waterford , Fraher Field ? Oh dear God
As a corkman, you can’t bare Thurles on a sunny day in July…
*bate
Nothing wrong with Fraher Field, lovely ground & Dungarvan is a beautiful town. Bigger doesn’t always mean better, PUC is a perfect example of that. There is no place like Semple Stadium on Munster final day.
I was behind the goal that Fitzgerald scored that sideline into.. breathtaking and heartbreaking in equal measure. Great stadium and a real GAA town.
Another holiday in tramore this year then?
Skippy is Michael Cleary, Festy is Pat Kerwick And Bubbles is John O’ Dwyer who’s on the panel this year
Sound!
Tramore is lovely, but Woodstown, Clonea or Ardmore are nicer.
Definitely.
In fairness they did produce one of the all-time great songwriters in Shane MacGowan.
And we have a mountain that looks like a boobie. hon the premier
Premier Porn
Is Slievenamon spelt wrong on the big flag?
Tipperary is the Premier County:
Thomas Davis, Editor of The Nation newspaper in the 1840s gave the name as a tribute to the nationalistic feeling in Tipperary and said that “where Tipperary leads, Ireland follows”.
Enough said!
I wondered why Tipp was called the Premier county.. also the first shots of the Tan war were fired in Tipperary, at Soloheadbeg, and the Fenian Rising of 1867 was centred around Tipp aswell, for what it’s worth
You know your from tipperary when you have a lifetime supply of tinfoil in the boot of the car!!!!
funny f…ker that’s going up on face book
You’d shout for the devil before you’d shout for Kilkenny ,Tiobraid Arann Abu
As a Dub myself I can say I never seen such devoted fans as I did at Croke park last summer for the Tipp match.. Despite losing the atmosphere was amazing!
I’m heading to the town of Cahir on sunday and can’t wait to explore the beautiful sights :)
ur off ur head , the abuse tipp fans give their own on bad days is ridiculous
Everytime I’m at a concert or a festival the tipp jersey is always the first I see, even at biffy clyro last night some fella had a tipp flag, why for the love of god are they so proud of their hole, (he says while typing this in Tipperary)
Plenty of lovely spots in County Tipperary. Cashel, Cahir, Clogheen, Emly, Aherlow.
Jaysus – nothing there only fields !
Life would be perfect if we could win more All Ireland’s instead of one every ten years or so. It’s always a fantastic sporting occasion. ;0)
Well it won’t be another 13 years LOL!!
Paul its been 40 years since we won an all-ireland, a couple of years aint all that bad!!!
And a little lego man avatar for 22 out of 22!! Ok i’m lying, enjoyed the article though.
No mention of the tinfoil?
No hang sanwiches or flasks of tea either.
I feel let down.
Or being attracted to members of your own family, left some big ones out of that list lads!!!!
is Effin Eddie a tipp man? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOS-XQ0oZYM
Aherlow born and bred
A firing squad wouldn’t take Aherlow out of that man!
No mention of John Leahy no??
Except for Simply Red that may have been the best of all the Feile Line Ups.
Simply red??? ah alan
Left after The Saw Doctors and David Byrne, who was brilliant. Didn’t bother with Brian Adams either but saw nearly everyone else that year. Was at all Feiles in Semple and one of the reasons, along with being a GAA devotee, I love Thurles and Semple Stadium!
Christy Moore asking people to stop messing in the rain and give him a listen.
Has to be the flask & hang sandwiches in tin foil. Too mean to spend it outside Tipp.
Know if a lad who organised an under 14 match night of Ireland’s soccer match in case the young fellows would watch!
Ya that happens where I live on all the time, and even with the senior teams they play there games on Saturdays and Sunday’s when the football is on tv and training sessions on during champions league games, they even moved a session last year from a Wednesday night to a Monday so the lads could not see united v city, gaa really are muppets and Tipperary is the breeding ground for there incompetence
The trip to tipp with the prodigy and manic street preachers, my first concert and on of the best!!!
What do you call a tipp supporter in croke park …….. Lost
What do you call a tipp supporter at croke park?………tourist.
Tipp the most overrated team ever, and then there is Cork, my god what a team…….
As a Corkman I don’t know if they ever lined out for the hurlers, but any county that could produce the ‘The Big Four’ i.e. Dan Breen, Sean Treacy, Sean Hogan and Seamus Robinson can’t be bad.
Tipp as a team are not committed , the attitude, mentality of we won or are winners is catching up, time for them to work as a team and fight for each.
Wasn’t Robinson from the North? Antrim or Down? I’m not questioning the major role he played in the fight for freedom around Tipp and the Munster area, but I seem to remember my NT, a Tipp man, once telling the class years ago that Robinson was a northerner!
I think your’e right on that one
What do you call a coach load of tipp supporters at croke park?……the gathering…….
#12 , yep, when it suits him
no mention of lovely cappawhite county minor champs 1965
Early shower for tipp this year next year , feck it call a spade a spade next decade or so……..
Some line-up at Feile 92!
no mention of cappawhite county minor champs 1965
At 12oclock on the 4th last day in September you assemble on Talbot street to give homage to one of our greatest county men before heading off to Jones Road