Pep Guardiola’s former assistant – Juanma Lillo – has heaped praise an Leicester’s James Maddison and queried why he hasn’t been featuring for England.

Lillo spent two years by Guardiola’s side – after Mikel Arteta left to become Arsenal manager – before going on to become the head coach for Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd SC this year.

In a recent interview, Lillo reflected on the emerging talents across Europe and referenced Foxes’ playmaker Maddison as a player that he’s ‘crazy’ about.

Speaking to the Athletic, Lillo said: ‘For me, England and Portugal are the two teams with the biggest number of elite players in an age group that will also give them good chances in the future.

‘One player I’m crazy about for England and hasn’t played at all — James Maddison. I love this guy, he excites me. He’s an authentic footballer, more of a street product than an academy product.

‘He’s daring. He has nerve. A manager can tell him to do A, but if he believes B is the right option, he’ll do B.

‘I just love this. Any idea that comes into James Maddison’s head is 100 times better than any idea you will find at any coaching conference.’

The 26-year-old playmaker has been one of the standout players in the Premier League this season with 11 goal contributions from his opening 13 appearances.

Recently, Maddison admitted that he had been studying clips of Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes – which may have helped with his creativity of late.

Though he was included in England’s 26-man squad flying out to Qatar, the Leicester midfielder is yet to make an appearance during the World Cup.

He’s been struggling with a knee issue since being forced off during Leicester’s final Premier League game before the World Cup break and failed to train with the squad throughout the group stage.

Despite being available for England’s games against Wales and Senegal, Southgate opted not to bring on the midfielder. He’ll be hoping to feature against France in the quarter-finals.