Laura Woods has told talkSPORT that moving to Arsenal wouldn’t make James Maddison’s chances of playing for England any better.
The TV and Radio presenter, who is an Arsenal fan, also claimed that the uncertainty on Mikel Arteta’s job is perhaps another reason why he should stay put at the more stable Leicester City.
On a number of occasions last season, Arteta could have been given the chop by Arsenal, including during their struggles over the festive period and when they were knocked out of the Europa League to Unai Emery.
In terms of club size, Arsenal are still and will always be the bigger club, but the Foxes have outperformed those from North London in recent years, as Woods explained.
“I am an Arsenal fan and I feel like I am allowed to say this,” said Woods. “But I don’t think playing for Arsenal would make you more attractive for Gareth Southgate to call you up for the England side.
“Maddison was already on their radar. It was only really injuries for the first time round that stopped him. And a few other things that might have stopped him this time. I think he has been on the radar for a while. I don’t think moving to Arsenal would make it better.
“Leicester have set themselves up nicely. Two fifth-placed finishes. Now an FA Cup. Arsenal have been slipping and slipping.
“I wonder, as a player, if you stay at Leicester, you know who your manager is going to be. If you go to Arsenal then you never know what’s going to happen with Mikel Arteta.”
Arsenal are keen on Maddison’s talents, but perhaps to no surprise to their fans, rumours suggest that the £70 million-rated player is proving to be ‘too expensive’.
Maddison is what Arsenal need in terms of a player who has the bravery to get on the ball in pressure situations, use his ball-carrying abilities to drive the team forward and he has that ability to get a goal from the middle of the park.
The latter is what Arsenal crave the most, and during pre-season, amongst many problems, one big issue was their lack of goals.
If that continues onto Friday when they take on Brentford in the Premier League opener then it will frustrate the fans even further.
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