Arsenal are hunting for a number 10 this summer, but a deal to sign Leicester City playmaker James Maddison looks very, very difficult to pull off.
The Gunners let Mesut Ozil go in January, and loanee Martin Odegaard impressed but won’t be returning from Real Madrid this summer.
We are now seeing a host of playmakers being linked with Arsenal, including Nabil Fekir and Isco, but Maddison is a fascinating target.
Football.London reported Arsenal’s interest in Maddison last month, and the Daily Mail reported that Arsenal genuinely believed a deal was possible.
£60million was the fee Arsenal were looking at paying for Maddison, but the move hasn’t really gone much further since those reports.
Maddison, 24, hit eight goals and five assists in 31 Premier League games last season, and Arsenal seemingly want to bring his creative ability to North London.
Now though, Eurosport journalist Dean Jones has told The Football Terrace that he doesn’t think the deal will happen.
Jones has been told by people around the potential deal that it would take something truly ‘extraordinary’ to bring Maddison to the Emirates Stadium.
“I still don’t think James Maddison will join Arsenal, personally,” said Jones. “From inclinations I’ve got around that deal, it would take something extraordinary for that to actually happen,” he added.
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