Fabrizio Romano insists that Leicester midfielder James Maddison is not a priority for Arsenal at present, as we are still holding out for Martin Odegaard’s return.
The Norwegian enjoyed an impressive spell in North London when joining on loan from Real Madrid in January, despite struggling with injury for a spell.
Mikel Arteta is known to be a big fan however, and the club are claimed to be holding out on his return.
Real Madrid are claimed to favour Odegaard staying with their first-team setup ahead of the new season however, although Romano insists that decision is not final.
He also stated that our interest in James Maddison was as a back-up to that of Odegaard, who we are still hoping to return.
“So, first of all, it’s true that there’s interest in this player (Maddison), and he is appreciated as an alternative if they can’t sign Odegaard. I am told that they are still keen on Odegaard if Real Madrid change their position,” Romano told the Don Robbie YouTube channel.
“At the moment, Madrid are saying they want to keep Odegaard and go on with him, but it’s not the final decision, so what I know is that their priority is still Martin Odegaard, if they can’t sign him, Maddison could be one of the opportunities.”
The issue I have with our supposed interest in Maddison is that his asking price is likely to be above £50 Million, with TransferMarkt claiming his value is €55 Million, and with three years on his contract, I don’t see them budging much.
Will Leicester be willing to part ways with Maddison this summer? Will he cost too much despite being not being our first-choice?
Patrick