It may well be a stretch to say Derek McInnes will be looking on with an almost paternal pride as he watches James Maddison strut his stuff in an England shirt at the World Cup.
But there is certainly a sense of satisfaction at seeing the 19-year-old boy who turned up under his watch at Aberdeen in 2016 realise all the potential McInnes knew he possessed from the minute he walked through the door at Pittodrie. The now-Kilmarnock manager still rues the fact that he only had the mercurial midfielder under his wing for a few short months, Maddison having done so well in his loan spell that parent club Norwich hauled him back to East Anglia in the January transfer window.
But the Leicester City star’s quality in those few months in the Granite City, underlined by a stunning last minute free kick winner over Rangers at Pittodrie in September of that year, is embedded in McInnes’ memory bank and six years on, the pair are still in contact.
“I think Aberdeen helped his development,” McInnes said. “I still speak to James and he’s on record as saying that. He’s always been very mature: when he came to us he was 19 but seemed five or six years older than he actually was.
“When I listen to him being interviewed now he comes across as one of the more senior players, even though he’s still only 25. He’s been quick to give a nod to people who helped him along the way but, ultimately, he’s a talented kid who has applied himself to make the most of his skills.
“Working with Maddison, I always thought he’d become an England player but, moré importantly, he thought so too. He had a plan for himself.”
McInnes worked hard to land the then-teenager on loan and his displays against the Old Firm rubber stamped his belief that Maddison could go all the way in the game. He explained: “I had a good relationship with his agent, Lee Robinson, and I was looking for a No 10 with creativity so it was just a case of asking the question because I thought he could help bridge the gap, quality wise, between ourselves and the Old Firm.
“He also had a few options in the Championship but at least one of them wasn’t going to guarantee him starts at his age so Lee thought it would be a great idea for him to come to Scotland and we assured him he’d get his chance. Alex Neil was the Norwich manager at the time and we were praying and pleading that when he went back to them in January that he’d allow him to return to us for the rest of the season.
“Unfortunately, after assessing him, he decided that James was a more rounded player and decided to keep him, even though he couldn’t get into their starting XI. It wasn’t until the following season that he broke through there and then he got his £20m move to Leicester.
“With top players it’s normally a case of the bigger the stage, the bigger the performance – and James is a top player. I remember when we lost 3-0 to Celtic in the League Cup final. We hardly laid a glove on them that day but he was still outstanding for us.
“I left Niall McGinn out to include him, which was a big call because Niall was a key player for us. But James could have played in their team that day and Brendan Rodgers said as much afterwards. It’s funny now that he’s starring for him at Leicester.
“On what was a disappointing day for us, he still shone. He also scored that spectacular winner against Rangers at Pittodrie when we were given a soft free-kick – Mark Warburton still argues about it – and that endeared him to the Aberdeen fans, although they could see his quality on a weekly basis. I just wish we could have had him for longer.”
McInnes has watched his protege go from strength to strength and it was Maddison’s attitude upon climbing out of his comfort zone to head north six years ago that convinced the Killie boss that the player had the mentality to add to his undoubted ability.
He added: “He’s never been quick so he’s had to fight really hard to find those spaces on the pitch which give him the opportunity to shine but he does find them because he has such good awareness. He also has great technique and can take the ball with his right or left foot and still be in sync.
“Plus, when he’s on song, he comes up with big moments and he has the cockiness which the best players possess. But listen, it wasn’t straightforward for him when he came up here.
“He was on big money for a young boy when he arrived but he was straight into it – he embraced the challenge. The players who come from England and do well up here are the ones who don’t have that snobbish attitude about our game and James just mucked right in.
“To be fair, we had a lot of good players at that time and he was mixing with the likes of Ryan Jack, Kenny McLean, Ryan Christie and Graeme Shinnie. He had a fight just to get into our team at that stage but he was prepared to work, which is always a good sign.”
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