On Saturday agreed a fee with Norwich City for James Maddison, but the Canaries also agreed a deal with Leicester City leaving the player to decide, it looks like he may prefer the East Midlands.

Several media outlets are reporting that James Maddison has opted to join Leicester City over Saints in what would be a £20 million transfer.

Saints supporters had hoped that Maddison might be swayed by the reputation of Mark Hughes over Claude Puel, but these days the manager has little intteraction with the player in the negotiation stages and it's not as big a factor as it sounds.

Te fact that Leicester were Premier League champions only two years ago may have had some influence on his decision, although last season Leicester were back to mid table and their supporters seemed to be just as fond of Claude Puel as Southampton fans were.

Opting for Leicester might seem the best option now for Maddison, especially because it is near to his home town Coventry , but it could turn out to be the wrong move with the Foxes seemingly in a similar position as we were exactly a year ago.

Photo: Action Images

A_Saint_in_Stoke added 09:43 - Jun 18 I would be disappointed if James opted for joining " the foxes " yes nearer his home - but he has to think of the day to day enjoyment - who would you rather be under A manager under pressure ( who I find difficult to understand ) .... or A professional UK manager wanting to build a team around James! I still feel that Harrison Reed will figure somewhere in bringing James to St Mary's.

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patred added 09:59 - Jun 18 It will come down to family, agent preference, yes, money will be factor. It will also come down to how each club sells itself, particulary future ambitions, the managers confidence about those ambitions. Ground and facilties will also come into it.
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Jesus_02 added 10:23 - Jun 18 Yep too right... it comes down to how the club sells itself. We are a "small provincial club" after all. We where once a desirable destination. Now , not really, only for foreign players that want a shop window. We have an absolutely massive board though, so everything isn't so bad, and as soon as we get back to selling 6 players a season we look forward to finishing 6th again.

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Bridders2 added 10:25 - Jun 18 SHAME just what we needed, a playmaker behind the front men. We have lacked that ever since Lallana left, and it's vital if we are going to get Gabby scoring.
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Jesus_02 added 10:26 - Jun 18 A_Saint_in_Stoke @ we will still sell Harrison Reed to Norwich. As long as they have the £££s they are good to go...and they are just about to get 24m from Leicester so I'm sure they will be able to pay the £2/3 million that they want to for him
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redandwhitedee added 11:52 - Jun 18 Claude Puel has a better “reputation” than mark Hughes. Puel finished 8th and reached cup final in his 1st season in English football. After a strong showing in France also. Anyway, 20m for a championship player is a lot. Whatever happened to producing our own ?
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1970 added 12:52 - Jun 18 Leicester look to keep hold of there players not get rid after a good season he will never play for England while in a saints shirt so why would he come to us as good old ralph once said we pay the least wages in the whole division and still finish in the top half of the table, well the top half seems a bit of a boast but the wage thing is spot on we will wait until the end of the window to pick up the players/dregs that couldn't get the deal they wanted and thus not giving a monkies about our club it all sounds like our board, haven't Leicester got our ex head of recruitment paul Mitchell as well he would know full well what were going to pay so we've been gazumped, anyway too much for a championship player only the sell on was attractive, I bet sh***pool are gutted, onwards and up wards.

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BoondockSaint added 13:42 - Jun 18 Why would he want to join a "small club" anyway, right, Ralph? Can't wait to see the look on his face when he scores a goal to put the Foxes up 1-0 with 40 minutes to go and Puel subs him off for a defender, and then benches him the next game!
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underweststand added 17:12 - Jun 18 When clubs agree a fee, and the seller is satisfied, it has to be down to the player's own choice of club. The player (apparantly) comes from the Midlands and wants to be near his family...won't blame him for that ..I think family is important. Somehow I respect him more than those players who will change continent, and move halfway around the World to get a better deal. Perhaps sad we didn't get him, but he still has to impress at his new club, and that isn't always a guarantee just because he cost a large(r) fee.

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SaintBrock added 08:49 - Jun 19 Don't always believe what you read. Were we really in for him or was it just rumours spread by agents to up the price Leicester would have to pay? If he had really wanted to stay that close to his family he would never have considered coming to the South coast in the first place. Everyone has their own red lines and surely his agent would know what they were. Well July is nearly upon us and reliable old Les is getting his business "dun early (my son)" as usual. Let's hope that not too many want out as sure as hell nobody is coming in!

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SaintBrock added 08:51 - Jun 19 ...oh, Jack Wilshire.... Wow! Effing Wow!
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SanMarco added 12:39 - Jun 19 A clue to the pecking order that players like that are choosing Leicester over us? The biggest kick in the teeth will be if Bertrand really does go to Wolves as some rumour or other is having it. We need effective signings in key areas this year - not 'marquees' or show-boaters. Sadly, I think Maddison would have fitted the bill...
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xuxizyna added 06:14 - Mar 11 I have completely agreed with the pressures of the life that have really confirmed from the part of the negotiation above it. That will be also have worthy part of the life on the https://www.researchwritingkings.com/review-edubirdie-com/ website from two parts of the teams will perform.
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