James Maddison has been the sorry leader in Leicester’s failed relegation battle this season, and there’s no question he’ll be on his way out the door this summer. With just two England caps to his name, though, his next decision needs to be the right one. There are clear concerns over Maddison’s best position from Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland; therefore, his England spot has never been reserved. Here’s an explanation of how they see the conundrum and what Maddison needs to consider when choosing his next home.

Maddison has been deployed in a 4-2-3-1 at Leicester City, ostensibly as the nominal No.10, or trequartista. In-game, he’s arguably even higher than this. Leicester’s use of the famous shape sees Maddison regularly more advanced up the pitch than his fellow wingers. His role is mainly to provide from high up and make third-man runs into the box. 

Straight away, this decreases his chances of playing in a midfield-three for England. From the national team’s perspective, his role for Leicester can barely be labelled as a midfield role at all. 

He’s played slightly higher than at No.10 for Leicester because of a tactical issue. The No.10 role requires players to play with their back to goal, receiving on the half-turn. Maddison is better when facing forward and struggles to take the ball on the half-turn like the Mason Mounts or Jamal Musialas of Europe. Therefore, he stands at an angle to receive facing forward, which means he often drifts wide into the half-space so that passes into him are always diagonal. 

For this reason, Southgate never considered Maddison as a No.10 option during his 4-2-3-1 days (circa 2021). The question then becomes: can Maddison feature as a No.8 in the 4-3-3 that England play now?

This would certainly solve the issue of receiving the ball (back to goal). However, the constant among England’s regular No.8 candidates is that they are all just as good from deep as they are in the final third. 

In this regard, the key for Maddison this summer will be to go to a club where he’ll learn to play as a deep-lying playmaker at moments. Not quite as a regista, but at least where he’ll become comfortable as the deepest in the wide triangle from time to time, as seen below. This would also improve his defensive maturity — cutting out the naive pressing that players of his mould often expose when shifted back. 

Some people may think they’ve got the perfect compromise: bring in a Leicester-style 4-2-3-1 to fit Maddison in. This, of course, would bring out the best in Maddison. However, there are two significant reasons England changed to a 4-3-3. 

Firstly, to give Harry Kane the space to drop deep, to help control possession and provide for the wingers (by ridding of a No.10), and secondly, to give Jude Bellingham the freedom to play box-to-box and not be restricted within a double-pivot. Bring back a 4-2-3-1 to incorporate Maddison, and you’ll lose these two facets.

If Maddison moves to Manchester City, Arsenal, or Liverpool, he’ll be deployed as a No.10 in the box-midfield and thus no closer to a midfield spot under Southgate. Similarly with Tottenham, unless there’s a radical change of philosophy and personnel, Maddison will be used as an auxiliary winger or No.10. When you look at it like this, the options quickly run out, but the 26-year-old has been explicit in his desire to start for England…