Arsenal told huge James Maddison transfer valuation

Arsenal Should Not Pay £80m for James Maddison

It’s completely understandable that Leicester will be putting their foot down on Maddison having done likewise for Maguire two summers ago. They understand that interest from Premier League rivals in their players – another example of how clever their recruitment is – puts the ball in their court.

Able to hold interested parties to ransom having tied their stars down to long deals (Maddison has a contract until 2024), the Foxes can set up shop and wait for the bids to come in.

Regularly mentioned that the club turned down a £70m offer last summer from an unnamed side, seeing that £80m figure mentioned doesn’t seem completely out of place.

However, the reported figure arrives via a Leicester outlet. Local papers always do the most to protect the best interests of their club and there is always some expectancy that a few million quid have been placed on to up that figure.

Going off history, that number has some validity, but at the same time Ben Chilwell was quoted last summer to also be worth £80m. Every major outlet in England peddled that valuation and it was considered the absolute bare minimum.

He was sold for £50m shortly after.

Numbers will be flung about from every which direction yet not until offers start being lodged will there be a clearer picture of what exactly it will take to seal Maddison’s signature. While Leicester are hardly scrambling for cash, the addition of £60m+ is money that can be reinvested, something they’re unfortunately very strong at.

But if it is numbers touching £80m, then it couldn’t be a simpler decision. Arsenal will already be paying English and Premier League tax if they want to sign the forward, while that kind of money could land them two players of a similar calibre across Europe.

Granted, while it appears Arteta is after English experience that would require minimal bedding in time, that kind of money is way beyond Maddison’s valuation, despite his excellent qualities. It was already a hefty spend. That’s way beyond.