Sam Allardyce feels Arsenal may have considered Maddison’s susceptibility to injury.
Arsenal were looking to find a solid midfielder and at one stage. James Maddison was their primary target but they failed to sign him. They invested a record £105 million for Declan Rice.
Arsenal fans were not happy that they didn’t go for Maddison who is an outstanding player. The Englishman is now playing for their rival club, Tottenham whom they signed for £45 million.
Maddison has scored three goals and provided 5 assists in 11 appearances. After the relegation of Leicester last season, he was keen to sign the Premier League.
Sam Allardyce admits he knows why Arsenal did not pursue Maddison. He feels the North London club may have considered Maddison’s susceptibility to injury and concluded he wasn’t a good value signing.
While talking on the No Tippy Tappy podcast, the ex-England manager claimed that Gunners were not even tempted to sign Maddison despite considering bolstering their midfield, as all they could think of was to sign Rice. “He had the same problems at Leicester, didn’t he?
“He didn’t cost much, so he was worth the risk, but then you have a player who is like Declan Rice, who is Mr. 35 games or Mr. 40 games; those are the players you buy first,” said Allardayce.
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