Arsenal confident of stunning £60m James Maddison transfer

Arsenal are pulling out all the stops this summer. A week into the transfer window and the club are making their feelings known with bids being lodged for players left, right and centre. Now, Mikel Arteta’s side think they can sign James Maddison on a deal worth £60m.

Has there ever been a explosion of transfer news quite like it before? Arsenal, famously slow to act in the transfer market, are aiming to get their business done early and are making inroads on a number of targets. Playmaker is key.

Martin Odegaard does not look like he’ll be heading to Arsenal. The club’s number one target is wanted in Spain by Real Madrid who will finally give him the platform to perform at Santiago Bernabeu, prompting an internal rethink. Other targets are being sounded out.

There is a strategy in mind. Firstly, the age profiles that the club are aiming for – which brings cause for optimism – and so too the division they ply their respective trades in. James Maddison was a name few would have expected to be among the main targets, but Arsenal are now confident of striking a deal with Leicester.

Arsenal confident of stunning £60m James Maddison transfer from Leicester in summer window as Martin Odegaard alternative

From being first mentioned through famous ITK account TheAFCBell, outlets across England are linking Arsenal with a move for the 24-year-old, with various statements that Arteta is a huge fan. However, from being just a name at another team, Maddison has now shot up to priority number one.

Brendan Rodgers’ side rejected a whopping £70m for their No. 10 last summer and with Maddison being homegrown, at a good age, Premier League experienced and under contract until 2024, he won’t come cheap.

Arsenal are ‘confident’ they can secure his signature, though, with a package worth in the region of £60m, and that there is an opportunity to strike an agreement. This is per the Daily Mail, whose claims of £60m being enough are echoed by football.london who add that the Foxes demands are somewhere around that figure.

It’s a remarkable development for Arsenal who are primed for significant incomings and departures this summer.

Where Maddison would fit into the squad is clear. Emile Smith Rowe can’t bear the No. 10 burden all on his own given his young age, and nurturing his ability and talent accordingly has to be considered a primary objective. Arsenal absolutely can not rely on their young players to carry the side again, hence why another option in that department is crucial.

Just as Odegaard in January, any arrival will not act as a hindrance to Smith Rowe, but instead work as a means to protect his talent. It is not fair on someone of 20 years old to be bestowed with so much responsibility.

Is Maddison the right man for Arsenal to target? Let’s take a statistical look.

Continued…

Is James Maddison a Good Fit for Arsenal?

It wasn’t too long ago when the big debate in England was whether Gareth Southgate should pick Jack Grealish or James Maddison to be his key creator in the Three Lions’ setup. Given how adored the former is by fans across the Premier League, it shows that Maddison has been doing something right.

Up until injury around late February, he wasn’t doing much wrong either.

Netting 11 goals and registering ten assists in just over 30 games before that point, the 24-year-old had found sparkling form under Rodgers. An injury set him back and he failed to add to his goal contributions since, primarily down to a mixture of form, fitness and a disciplinary issue that prompted the Foxes boss to leave a few of his senior players out of the team.

His shooting range, dead ball ability and eye for a killer pass are three of the main ingredients to his excellent pre-injury form, all which are backed up statistically. Sitting in the 95th percentile for through balls, passes into the final third and key passes, his strengths lie in being the connecting piece between midfield and attack, not often seen carrying possession but regularly seen moving it on to the right areas.

A npxG+ xA of 0.49 is 78th percentile worthy which, while not mouth-watering, can be partially attributed to a change of system at the King Power Stadium.

Maddison’s defensive stats indicate where his weakness are, although if you aren’t asked to perform a role then that doesn’t imply you’re unable to carry it out. His pressing stats are non-existent in Leicester’s soak up and break style, while he’s about average for players of his ilk with 1.99 tackles and interceptions per 90 (49th percentile). What does make for pleasant viewing is the number of tackles he makes in the attacking third, which is 91st percentile worthy.

If he has the ball beyond the halfway line however, he comes alive.

Touch, turn and release. For many players that is three movements but Maddison can perform them in one fluid motion. Using his body cleverly on the half-turn, his telepathic understanding with his striker means by the time he’s pressed he fed someone into space. Averaging a 95th percentile 4.86 SCA per 90, his vision in and around the box makes him a constant threat.

How much did a pacey striker like Jamie Vardy flourish with Maddison behind him? There is a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Nicolas Pepe shaped darting run in behind with his name on.

Maddison is a nuisance between the lines, will make those supporting runs, can shoot, spot a pass and be that extra man in link-up play. No wonder Arsenal are keen.