Brendan Rodgers
James Maddison will not let the inevitable transfer interest affect his form, Brendan Rodgers has said as the Leicester City manager continues to hope his star man signs a new contract. Asked for an update on Maddison’s contract,
Brendan Rodgers said: “I don’t know. You’re speaking to the wrong man. That’s for the club. My job is to coach him every day and make him the best he can be. It’s only natural you want your absolute best players to be here, and we keep saying that, but we keep losing them. He’s never a player you would want to lose. But I can only focus on him now and day by day. I would think (there would be interest). The beauty of James, and it’s the same with this England scenario, it hasn’t affected him. That’s where you see the level of maturity. What we’ve seen in the past is, sadly, players are linked with all sorts of clubs because an agent has to create a market, and then when it doesn’t come off, you see the players dip. It’s never been like that, and James has been linked with loads. He’s a realist. He also knows he’s in a good place to develop and learn, and he knows he can focus on day-to-day life and improve. What will be in the future will be, but it will only be on the back of playing well.”
Rodgers continues to advocate for Maddison to get a spot in England’s World Cup squad, with just a few weeks remaining in the domestic campaign before Gareth Southgate names his group for Qatar.
Brendan Rodgers added: “He’s done his talking on the pitch for a long time, he can’t do much more than keep knocking on the door. By the time the World Cup squad is announced, I hope he’ll have done enough to get into the squad, even though he hasn’t been involved in the build-up. If you’re picking your best players for a World Cup, and are away for a long time, then it’s the chemistry that’s important as well. You need players who’ll bond well and be team players. He’s a team player who has this incredible individual quality. Look at how many positions I’ve played him in, he’s always produced the best for the team. He’s talent’s done all the talking, I can’t speak highly enough of him. I’ve seen his numbers, what more can he do?”
