Maddison lives his dream

IT WAS a member of the Montenegro backroom staff who asked politely if he could take home James Maddison’s shirt as a souvenir.

On any other night, the Leicester City playmaker may well have obliged. Just not this one. He had to smile and say, sorry, and explain that this had been his England debut and so he would very much like to keep it.

‘You’d have had to fight me to get that off me,’ Maddison joked afterwards. Thankfully, it did not come to that. However, there is someone else who wants the shirt.

‘My dad,’ said Maddison. ‘He said when I was a little kid, “If you ever play for England I want your shirt” so I had to give it to him.

‘I’ll never forget that feeling when I was waiting to come on. That was a special feeling. I just took it all in. Representing your country is a big thing, it’s the pinnacle. I’ve just represented England, the country I grew up in, and that the dream I had as a young boy of representing the Three Lions came true. It was a special night.

‘I’ve had to wait a little bit, been on the bench a few times, been in a few squads, and that’s made it all the more sweet, more special.’

Maddison signed for Leicester in June last year, midway through the World Cup. He remembers where he was when he watched the games. ‘Round my mate’s house, round my dad’s house, down the pub for one of them, I was on holiday for one,’ he reels off.

‘I’ve come to Leicester and it’s a fantastic club for me, a great platform for me to showcase what I’m about.

‘I’ve got a great manager and a great squad to help me showcase what I’m about in the Premier League each week.’