Maddison made the move to Carrow Road in January 2016, with Norwich agreeing a £2.5 million fee with the Sky Blues. The deal saw the creative midfielder, who had reportedly been tracked by a host of Premier League clubs, head back to Coventry on loan for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign.
The then-19-year-old was promptly sent on loan to Aberdeen for the first-half of the following season, where he returned two goals and three assists from 17 appearances before returning south of the border.
Maddison marked his league debut for Norwich with his first goal in a 3-1 victory at Preston North End in April 2017 after finding himself on the first-team fringes following the loan spell with Aberdeen, although the Canaries’ appointment of Daniel Farke that summer would change everything.
He enjoyed a sensational 2017/18 season and duly earned a move to Leicester City for a fee in the region of £22 million.
Maddison returned more than 50 goals across a stunning five-year stay with the Foxes before leaving for Tottenham Hotspur last summer in a £40 million move following their relegation from the Premier League, and he has been instrumental for Ange Postecogolou’s side, too.
The success which the England international has gone on to enjoy in his career vindicates Norwich’s decision to purchase him in the first place, and it makes their £2.5 million outlay look a real snip. It was inspired business, make no mistake about that.
James Maddison’s 2017/18 season at Norwich City
Maddison evidently felt as though he had a point to prove heading into the 2017/18 season, and rightly so.
He was forced to bide his time for opportunities at Norwich for the previous 18 months, but alongside the likes of Jamal Lewis and Max Aarons, he was among a number of young players to be provided with significant trust and faith from Farke.
To say Maddison simply repaid that faith would be an understatement. The playmaker stood out all year long for Norwich and received the club’s Player of the Season award after scoring 15 goals and weighing in with 11 assists across all competitions.
All but one of those strikes came in the Championship, where Maddison put himself right up there as one of the division’s most impressive performers.
