Max Lowe reckons former Aberdeen loanee James Maddison deserves his senior England call-up after his impressive start to life in the English Premier League.
Maddison, who spent the first half of the 2016-17 campaign at Pittodrie, joined Leicester from Norwich in the summer for a fee believed to be in the region of £20 million and was named by manager Gareth Southgate in his England squad for Uefa Nations League games against Croatia and Spain.
Fellow loanee Lowe came up against Maddison when he was a youth player at Coventry City and saw a player that certainly did not lack for confidence, even then. The Derby full-back spoke to Maddison prior to his own move to Aberdeen and reckons the step-up to being a senior international is merited for the under-21 cap.
Lowe said: “I know James and he spoke really highly of the club. He told me about his experience and showed me clips of his free-kick against Rangers – he put it on Instagram the other day. I’m buzzing for him because he’s a great lad. He’s playing at a great level and hopefully I can follow in his footsteps. He’s a local lad, from Leicester, so he’s not too far from me. I used to play against him a lot when he was in the younger age groups at Coventry. He was a good player then and has always had that confidence.
“He was at Aberdeen then went back to Norwich and did really well. He got his move to Leicester too, which suited him, and I was hoping he got that senior (England) call-up because I did’t think it’s too far away for him. You can see why he’s gone far. He’s backing himself. I think you need a bit of arrogance to get far in the game.”
Maddison is one example of a player coming up from England to prove himself in Scotland, while Danny Ward has become a Wales international following his loan spell with the Dons. Both Lowe and James Wilson, who is on loan from Manchester United, have seen moves to Scotland as a platform for themselves to improve their prospects south of the border.
Lowe added: “When I first came here I didn’t realise how many English lads were up here – James Wilson, Dom Ball, Sam Cosgrove – and we’re all young lads. It’s going to become a more popular thing for players to come up here, because the standard is there.”