Arsenal have reportedly tabled an official bid to sign James Maddison, but Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers doesn’t seem prepared to let any of his star players leave the King Power this summer.
The Gunners are on the lookout for a new number 10 to replace Martin Odegaard. Rumours about re-signing the Norwegian are still going strong, but Maddison may just be the more complete option, and Arsenal have made their opening move.
Football London revealed today that Arsenal have proposed a player plus cash offer to sign the Leicester star this summer. It’s unclear who the player in question is, but Edu seems to have made it clear that he wants Maddison. However, Rodgers doesn’t seem willing to sell him at all.
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Brendan Rodgers: We don’t have to sell Arsenal target Maddison
The Leicester City boss said this week, as per Goal: “In conversations with the club, we don’t have to sell. That’s something that’s been made clear. The players want to stay. It’s a really exciting time at the club.
“There’s lots of gossip and speculation around but I’m loving working with the guys here, they love being here, and we certainly have no need to sell. So I would suspect we’re looking to keep our best players.”
Rodgers is speaking about all of his star players in his comments here, but it does seem like Maddison is the centre of discussion. The Englishman has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal, but can the Gunners convince the Foxes to let him leave?
The Insider’s View:
Rodgers is right to play down the rumours. Publicly admitting that he would be willing to sell a player will only allow interested to clubs to bring the price down, which is not ideal at all for Leicester with respect to Maddison.
The Foxes will surely make it difficult for us to sign the playmaker this summer. However, there have been rumours that have suggested that Maddison could be open to a move to the Emirates, which could give us an edge.
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It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming weeks. It is clear that Arsenal’s two top targets are Maddison and Odegaard. We’ll do everything to bring one of them in, and either player would be a brilliant signing for us this summer.
