Norwich City’s highly-rated forward James Maddison will extend his current loan spell at Scottish Premiership contenders Aberdeen until the rest of the season.

The 20-year-old who joined the Canaries from Coventry for a reported £3m 12 months ago, was set to return to Carrow Road on Wednesday following the expiry of his original loan to Pittodrie.

However, Dons manager Derek McInnes has confirmed Maddison will now stay with Aberdeen for the rest of the campaign.

“We have had good news with James being able to extend his loan,” McInnes told Aberdeen’s Evening Express today. “Norwich have confirmed to me that James will be staying. His loan finishes on January 4, and the view from Norwich is that he will extend until the end of the season before then.”

The news ensures Maddison will avoid the notable unrest at Carrow Road as City’s premier League promotion bid flounders – while he can also help the Dons push for second spot in the Scottish Premiership behind Celtic, and the European qualification berth that brings.

Maddison has made a good impact at Pittodrie since joining on deadline day in the summer, including his stunning injury-time free-kick that earned victory over Rangers in September.

Aberdeen travel to Hearts on Friday before Scottish football’s winter break, while for the Dons will extend until their Scottish Cup fourth-round home tie with Stranraer on January 21.

In that time, Maddison is expected to train with his parent club – although it remains to be seen whether the midfielder could feature for City in the interim period, if his loan extension with Aberdeen is already completed.

McInnes has also intimated he may have to speak to Maddison over his third booking for simulation so far this season, one of which was cancelled on appeal.

“I might be doing James a bit of a disservice but it didn’t look as if there was much contact this time,” said McInnes of the latest yellow, which came late on in Tuesday’s 2-1 home league win over Hamilton.

“It looked more like he was anticipating there would be contact from (Dougie) Imrie. I want to have a good look at it before saying any more.

“If it was a booking I will have a talk with James about trying to avoid that. But he was very positive with his contribution after coming on (as a 61st minute substitute).”

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