We all know that Arsenal said to be close to sign both Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy in previous attempts that resulted in nothing. Both players stayed at Leicester after that fantastic PL winning season, why, because The Gunners were not willing to table the cash needed to get Leicester to accept.
Leicester are not in any immediate situation to sell players but they are of course interested in a maximum price for their top assets. With Jamie Vardy it was a question of loyalty and when Leicester put a contract on the table and showed their most important player their desire to keep going and progress, a move to Arsenal never became reality with a price of £40million seen as acceptable if Vardy hadn’t decided to sign his new and improved contract.
When the Jamie Vardy move never happened rumours about Riyad Mahrez started but at that time a fee of £35million was what Arsenal were prepared to pay, but with Mahrez earlier signing a long term deal with Leicester, that move never happened and later when Man City moved in for the Algerian, Leicester could cash in almost a double amount seeing the fee rise to £60million, which was a new record fee paid for an African player ever and also a record at Man City.
Despite having a difficult season with Leicester, we all know the worth of James Maddison and with the Mahrez and also the Chilwell, Drinkwater and Maguire moves in previous seasons, £60million looks as a bargain buy.
TCF would of course love Maddison to stay, and he has not in anyway said he wants a move away, being contracted to the club until 2024, and with that in mind, Arsenal should be willing to pay every penny and up to £75million, as the player will if he continues to play for Leicester and staying injury free, be worth that fee and beyond.
He is a man that sets up goals, score goals and can keep the ball and keep you in a game, and to do that at the very highest level is worth a lot. Arsenal did pay Brighton £50million for Ben White, surely they are able to pay up to get Maddison too, and if that party are serious they should not go around the cattle but put the cash on the table and not disturb and annoy other clubs as they are just pushing up the price and the Man City’s and Man Utd’s even the Liverpool’s will come knocking and then Arsenal are no longer in the picture.
Leicester could accept or decline, everything depends on the price and we all know what Brendan Rodgers would like, of course to keep his best players, but he is also a pragmatic man and knows that this is a business and that players can be sold, but again that would also free up cash to go in the market himself.
To see the name Joe Willock in a swap, and maybe they would add Rob Holding and Callum Chambers to that list, it could be interesting to see how this will progress, at the moment as said on Sky Sports we believe that the package must be 100% correct for all parties.
A lot of talk and messages going forward and back between a number of more or less gossip driven websites, but with Sky Sports now looking into the matter it will be interesting to see how this will progress and as we have said, Youri Tielemans contract acceptance will be pivotal in the total picture because we cannot see both players being sold, that is not an option at all, and with Maddison on a longer deal, he would not be sold if Tielemans decides not to sign.
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