Daily Mirror

FOXES FANS ARE MADD FOR JAMES

- BY STEVE BATES

THEY may have kept England hero Harry Maguire – for now at least – but there was no disguising the gaping hole in Leicester’s team at Old Trafford.

Foxes fans chanted Maguire’s name – but would they have preferred to have kept playmaker Riyad Mahrez (below) ahead of their big centre-half?

The early evidence on the opening night of the new Premier League season is that the 2016 champions will hugely miss their Algeria star.

Not because Leicester looked impotent or short of ideas without him – far from it.

But every team with aspiration­s to be in the top four and in the hunt for the big prizes needs a talent like Mahrez.

Leicester got £60million for Mahrez with Pep Guardiola recognisin­g the qualities of a winger who can turn a game in a flash. When the Manchester City boss wants you it’s clear you’re on another level to most players.

But in £22m former Norwich player James Maddison (top), the Foxes have unearthed a gem who could go a long way to cushioning the loss of Mahrez.

Scorer of 14 goals and 11 assists in the Championsh­ip last term, Maddison didn’t lack confidence against Manchester United. And he almost stunned the Reds with a superb effort to bring a top save from David De Gea.

He’ll never replace Mahrez, of course, but Maddison has more than enough talent to carve out an equally big Foxes fan club for himself.

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