In June 2018 Leicester City paid Norwich City a fee reported at around £20 million for James Daniel Maddison, an attacking midfielder born in Coventry on 23 November 1996. The move took him into the Premier League after a single full season as a Championship regular, and five years later it led to a reported £40 million transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, the club he has played for since 2023. He has Irish ancestry through a grandparent and has represented England at under-21 and senior level.
Coventry City academy
Maddison came through the youth system of Coventry City, his hometown club. He was part of the first-team squad in 2013-14 without making an appearance, and his senior debut came in August 2014, as a substitute in a 2-1 League Cup defeat to Cardiff City. In October 2014 he scored his first league goal with a first-half free kick in a 4-1 defeat at Oldham Athletic, and the following month he signed his first professional contract, a three-and-a-half-year deal. He made 24 league appearances and scored 4 goals in that first spell.
Norwich City and the Aberdeen loan
On 1 February 2016 Norwich City signed him for an undisclosed fee and loaned him straight back to Coventry for the rest of the 2015-16 campaign, in which he added 11 appearances and one goal. His Norwich debut, on 23 August 2016, came against his former club: he provided two assists in a 6-1 League Cup win. Eight days later he joined Aberdeen on loan for the first half of 2016-17. In Scotland he made 17 appearances and scored twice, including a last-minute free kick that beat Rangers on 25 September 2016.
Back in Norfolk, he made his league debut for Norwich on 17 April 2017 and scored in stoppage time of a 3-1 win at Preston North End. He signed a new four-year deal in June 2017 and followed it with a 2017-18 season of 14 goals in 44 league games, 15 in 49 in all competitions. He won the club's Player of the Season award and was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year.
Five years at Leicester City
Maddison signed a five-year contract with Leicester on 20 June 2018. He scored his first Premier League goal on 18 August 2018 in a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and ended his first campaign as the club's Young Player of the Season. On 27 September 2020 he scored from long range in a 5-2 win at Manchester City, a strike voted Premier League Goal of the Month. On 15 May 2021 he came on in the 67th minute of the FA Cup final, which Leicester won 1-0 against Chelsea at Wembley, and in August 2021 he added the Community Shield.
In 2021-22 he scored 18 goals in all competitions, finished as the club's top scorer and was voted Leicester's Player of the Season. He captained the side for the first time on 11 February 2023, in a 4-1 win over Tottenham. In 2022-23 he contributed 10 league goals and 9 assists, but Leicester were relegated to the Championship. He left with 55 goals in 203 appearances.
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham completed his signing on 28 June 2023 on a five-year contract, and in August he was named vice-captain alongside Cristian Romero. He made his debut on 13 August 2023 in a 2-2 draw at Brentford, scored his first goal for the club on 26 August at Bournemouth and was Premier League Player of the Month for August 2023.
In 2024-25 he scored twice in a 4-0 win at Manchester City on his 28th birthday and got the only goal of a 1-0 victory over Manchester United on 16 February 2025. In the Europa League he scored in the first leg of the semi-final against Bodø/Glimt on 1 May 2025, but a knee injury picked up that night ended his season. Tottenham went on to win the competition, giving him a 2024-25 Europa League winner's medal. In August 2025 he injured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during a pre-season friendly against Newcastle United and did not return until 11 May 2026, as a substitute in a 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
England
Maddison won 9 caps and scored once for England under-21s between 2017 and 2019, his goal coming in a 3-3 draw with Croatia at the 2019 European Under-21 Championship. His senior debut followed on 14 November 2019, when he replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in a 7-0 win over Montenegro in Euro 2020 qualifying. He was in the 26-man squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar without playing, made his first start on 26 March 2023 against Ukraine and was left out of the final squad for Euro 2024. Between 2019 and 2024 he won 7 senior caps.
Profile
A number ten by trade, Maddison has carried a set-piece threat since his first senior goals: his first league goal for Coventry and his winner for Aberdeen against Rangers both came from direct free kicks. On 19 October 2026 he started a Premier League match for the first time since April 2025 and opened the scoring in Tottenham's 3-1 win over Coventry City.
Tottenham Hotspur