As part of Youth Development Week, the EFL is looking back at some of the standout winners of the EFL Young Player of the Month award from years gone by.

The award was created to recognise young players who made significant contributions to their teams, with previous winners including Jude Bellingham, Harry Maguire and Victor Moses.

Many have gone on to enjoy success at the highest level with Clubs and on the international scene, with the EFL playing a role in their rise to the top.

For the second instalment of the series, we look at James Maddison’s career to date and how the award was a sign of things to come for the prolific midfielder.

By the time he won the Young Player of the Month award, Maddison was already an established EFL player.

The creative midfielder burst onto the scene playing for Coventry City during the 2014/15 season in League One before becoming more of a regular face in the side the following season. His consistent performances for the Sky Blues saw him move to Championship side Norwich City before being loaned back to Coventry for the remainder of the 15/16 season.

Maddison went on to make his debut for the Canaries in the EFL Cup against his former club in August 2016 before being loaned out to Scottish Premiership side Aberdeen until January 2017.

Upon his return from Scotland, Maddison made his long-awaited league debut for Norwich coming on as a substitute away at Preston in a 3-1 win in April 2017. With the arrival of Daniel Farke the following season, the midfielder enjoyed plenty of playing time and was named the EFL’s Young Player of the Month for January 2018 after three goals and an assist in four matches for the Norfolk side.

Despite Norwich’s struggle for goals in Maddison’s first full season for the side, he managed 14 goals and eight assists from midfield which saw him named Norwich’s Player of the Season and the EFL Championship Young Player of the Season come the end of the campaign.

Maddison’s midfield heroics, was enough for Leicester City to offer the 21-year-old a chance to play in the Premier League, joining the former Premier League winners in the summer of 2018.

During his time at Leicester City, Maddison became the Foxes’ star player in midfield, thriving under the management of Brendan Rodgers. In the 2020/21 season, he helped Leicester to the FA Cup final where they shocked Chelsea 1-0 thanks to a Youri Tielemans goal.

Come August of that year, the FA Cup winners took on Premier League winners Manchester City in the Community Shield with Maddison adding a second winners medal to his collection where the Foxes once again triumphed at Wembley winning by the same scoreline thanks to an 89^th minute Iheanacho penalty.

After being part of Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad, Maddison moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2023 and made a great start to life under Ange Postecoglou, scoring three goals and adding six assists in his first 11 Premier League games before an ankle injury interrupted his season.