Jamie Carragher has a theory over why Arsenal didn’t try to sign James Maddison
James Maddison has been one of the very best players in the Premier League so far this season.
The Tottenham midfielder won the August Player of the Month award, and he carried his form through to September too.
Many clubs must be kicking themselves for not signing Maddison in the summer, and one club that was credited with an interest in the former Leicester star over the years was Arsenal.
Ultimately, Arsenal didn’t sign Maddison, and according to Jamie Carragher, there’s a reason the Gunners, along with Man City and Liverpool, didn’t go for the midfielder.
Writing for The Telegraph, Carragher stated that he thinks Maddison is too much of a throwback player for a team like Arsenal and a manager like Mikel Arteta, claiming that Maddison’s best position – the number 10 role, is now unfashionable for elite coaches.
“His throwback style extends to his on-field role. With the utmost respect to Maddison and Spurs, it explains why his options during the summer did not include Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool,” Carragher wrote.
“I have no doubt all watched him for Leicester and at some point over the last three years considered signing him. The reason they said no is because Maddison’s most effective position is unfashionable for elite coaches.”
As much as we can see where Carragher is coming from here, we have to take a slightly different stance when it comes to Arsenal and Maddison.
The Gunners do pretty much play with a number 10 in the shape of Martin Odegaard, and his presence meant that they didn’t really need Maddison.
Yes, Maddison is a fantastic player, but if you gave Arsenal the choice between the Spurs star and Odegaard, they’d be choosing their captain 10 times out of 10.
Maddison probably would have fit in well at Arsenal in that Odegaard role, but, the simple fact of the matter is that Arsenal are already well-stocked in that area.
