James Maddison studied Bruno Fernandes’ game to help win back England place

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Leicester City playmaker James Maddison has revealed that he studied Bruno Fernandes‘ game to help win back place in England squad.

Maddison’s only cap for the Three Lions came three years ago in a 7-0 European Championship qualifier against Montenegro when he came on as a second half substitute.

But despite not representing his country for three years, the 25-year-old was included in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the winter World Cup in Qatar.

Given the form the Foxes’ number ten was in heading into tournament, it was hard for Southgate to overlook the former Norwich City attacking midfielder.

From 13 Premier League games this season, Maddison has been directly involved in 11 goals (seven goals, four assists).

Fernandes currently has three goals and three assists from 20 games across all competitions this season.

James Maddison studied Bruno Fernandes’ game to help win back England place

While Maddison has been overlooked by Southgate in recent England squads, including last summer’s European Championships, the in-form Englishman has revealed that he spent time analysing Fernandes’ game and learning from Manchester United’s Portuguese magnifico.

Speaking via the Metro, Maddison said: “A couple of seasons ago, when I wasn’t in the England squad, Bruno Fernandes was playing very well for Manchester United and putting up ridiculous numbers in terms of goals and assists.

“So, I probably watched him a bit closer at that time.

“How is he scoring so many goals? What runs is he making that I’m not? If that makes me a student of the game, then that’s what I am.”

In Fernandes’ first 18 months with the Red Devils, following his arrival in January 2020 from Sporting Lisbon, our number eight scored 40 goals and laid on 25 assists from 80 matches.

The 28-year-old’s form has been impacted following the return of Cristiano Ronaldo and there is no doubt that our attacking midfielder is better without his compatriot in the team.

With Ronaldo’s time at Old Trafford set to come to an end following his explosive interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV, Fernandes could get back to posting the numbers he did early in his Red Devils career once the future of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is resolved.