Premier League duo Leicester City-Southampton agree to fee for Championship prodigy

Add as a preferred source on Google

London, June 18: Leicester City are pushing Southampton all the way as the Premier rivals go head-to-head over signing Norwich City starlet James Maddison.

Reports in England claim that the Foxes have agreed to a £24million package with Norwich, including add-ons for the 21-year-old Canaries Player of the Year after the Saints agreed to a similar deal on Sunday (June 17).

However, it now looks like Claude Puel is in the driving seat after his 11th-hour bid frustrated Mark Hughes’ attempts to complete a deal last night.

Leicester have been long-time favourites to sign the former Coventry kid, whose family still live in the Midlands.

Yet it looked as if Southampton had beaten them to the punch when the Foxes dithered over the last 24 hours, allowing Saints to gain the upper-hand last night.

However, Leicester are now pulling out all the stops to try and get the deal over the line for the England Under-21 star who made more key passes last season than Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne even though he did it in the Championship.

Maddison will now spend the next 24 hours weighing up his options as the Premier League duo scrap over signing one of the most talented midfielders to come out of the Championship for years.

His stock soared in January when it was revealed he had created 54 chances for Norwich, more than any player in the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.

Since then, it has just been a matter of time before the Canaries' prized asset stepped up to the Premier League where a clutch of clubs are battling for the signature of one of England’s top young talents.

Liverpool are known to be long admirers of the English wonderkid but it seems that the Reds will resist a bid as they are more likely to move for someone more proven.

Their priority stills remains Nabil Fekir of Lyon as per reports even after missing out on him abruptly after everything was seeming done and dusted and the player even did the interview.

Everton also hold an interest in Maddison but it seems that they are not going to enter the bidding war that is already on.