Arsenal have made a cash-plus-player bid for Leicester City playmaker James Maddison – but so have another club from London.
That’s according to Football.London, who claim that Arsenal have made their first move to sign Maddison by contacting Leicester through intermediaries.
Leicester want around £60million for Maddison, a fee Arsenal either can’t or won’t pay – and that’s why they’re offering players in the deal.
Arsenal aren’t the only ones with that idea in mind though, as another London club have allegedly made the same kind of bid.
Tottenham may be in the market for a playmaker this summer, but whether they would have anybody Leicester fancy signing in a swap deal remains to be seen.
Chelsea don’t exactly need Maddison right now, but may have more appealing players in a swap move if Thomas Tuchel is interested.
West Ham surely can’t get near to signing Maddison, and the same goes for Crystal Palace or Brentford, so it would surely be Chelsea or Tottenham.
Arsenal have the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah available for transfer, and may hope that Leicester take a liking to one or two of them to facilitate a deal.
Maddison may be keen on the move, even though Gary Lineker claims it’s a backwards step – but it will all depend on the cash Arsenal can cough up.
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