Journalist Peter O’Rourke spoke on The Football Terrace about rumours linking Leicester City star James Maddison with a move to Arsenal.
The Gunners are on the market looking for a new number 10 after Martin Odegaard returned to Real Madrid. The Norwegian was reportedly Mikel Arteta’s priority target, but a deal for him seems impossible now.
Arsenal need to bring in a new attacking midfielder before the transfer window shuts and Maddison is now reportedly our number one target. O’Rourke has claimed that the Englishman would love a move to the Emirates, but he believes that the Gunners just don’t have the money to sign him this summer.
Arsenal don’t have the money to sign James Maddison
He said: “I think it’s a difficult deal to do. I’m sure Maddison would love the opportunity of going to Arsenal, getting the famous number 10 shirt, and doubling his own personal terms as well.
“But the transfer fee for Maddison, you’re talking about £60 million, and I don’t think Arsenal have got that right now. I just can’t see the deal happening.”
The Insider’s View:
We all knew that a deal to sign the Leicester City star was unlikely. Maddison, labelled as ‘incredible‘ by Brentford boss Thomas Frank, is still only 24, has three years left on his contract and is one of Brendan Rodgers’ most important players at the King Power.
It was always going to be an expensive deal to complete, but don’t rule Arsenal out just yet.
In each of the last two seasons, rumours made us believe that Arsenal have very little money to spend. The Gunners surprised everyone on both occasions by completing big-money deals for Nicolas Pepe and Thomas Partey.
Read more: Ivan Gazidis pushing to sign Arsenal-linked ‘new Ronaldo’
Maddison falls into the same category and if anything, a deal to bring him in will be even more difficult. However, Arsenal have shown that they have the capacity to secure big moves and that could well prove to be the case again in a few weeks’ time.
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