Jamie Carragher has now shared why he thinks Arsenal and other top clubs did not sign James Maddison before he joined Tottenham Hotspur.
The Englishman was available in the summer after Leicester City got relegated. Many felt there would be a big transfer battle for his signature, but Spurs had a free run to get him. Carragher has now shared a theory on why Arsenal did not sign Maddison.
Jamie Carragher shares why Arsenal didn’t sign James Maddison
Arsenal were heavily linked with James Maddison back in the day, but the Gunners didn’t even consider him in the summer when Tottenham made a move to sign him.
The Englishman is a tremendous player, there’s no debate there. He can score goals, provide assists, is brilliant in set prices and has proven that he can be a matchwinner in the Premier League over the years.
Maddison’s performances since the start of this season have been so good that many are wondering why clubs like Arsenal didn’t try to sign him in the summer.
Carragher has a theory.
He wrote in his column on The Telegraph: “His throwback style extends to his on-field role. With the utmost respect to Maddison and Spurs, it explains why his options during the summer did not include Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool.
“I have no doubt all watched him for Leicester and at some point over the last three years considered signing him. The reason they said no is because Maddison’s most effective position is unfashionable for elite coaches.
“Maddison excels most as an out-and-out number 10. Over the last six years – or certainly since Pep Guardiola’s 4-3-3 began dominating world football – such players are an endangered species.
“Now the position is perceived as a luxury, typified recently by someone such as Mesut Ozil who for all his skill gave the impression the hardest yards had to be run by ball-winning midfielders while he racked up the assists.
“My suspicion is that Guardiola, Klopp, Mikel Arteta and Mauricio Pochettino took a look at Maddison and were swayed more by what he does not do more than his qualities.”
Mikel Arteta could’ve easily signed him
Let’s be very clear here – if Arsenal wanted James Maddison in the summer, we would’ve got him.
Tottenham are definitely a step up for the Englishman from Leicester City, but the only reason he joined Spurs was because no other big club wanted him.
If Mikel Arteta decided to go down the route of Maddison instead of Kai Havertz and offered to sign him, we are absolutely certain that he would’ve snubbed Tottenham and moved to the Emirates.
The Arsenal boss, however, had other ideas, as did most other top managers in the country, and that’s why Maddison took the only offer he had on the table and joined Tottenham.
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