In the summer, Arsenal wanted to change up its midfield lineup. They had intended to sign two excellent midfield players, but things didn’t work out that way. They signed Declan Rice for a record £105 million, but they did not sign another midfield player, even though they were linked to a number of other players.
Some Arsenal supporters may be wondering why their team did not attempt to sign James Maddison, a midfield player they greatly admire and who has previously been linked to Arsenal after Spurs, their North London rivals, paid £45 million for his services. He has five assists and three goals in 11 games. Given that he was clearly eager to join another Premier League team following Leicester’s relegation, it is surprising that the Gunners didn’t even attempt to sign him.
Sam Allardyce believes he knows why Arsenal did not pursue Maddison. He believes the Gunners may have considered Maddison’s susceptibility to injury and concluded he wasn’t a good value signing. An injured player is not so useful to the squad, as Arsenal have found out their cost on many occasions.
On the No Tippy Tappy podcast, the ex-England manager stated that Arsenal 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 Allardyce.
Arsenal struck gold when they signed Declan Rice. He has absolutely elevated their midfield. Maddison has also dazzled, but there’s a potential he’ll be out injured for a while, season after season, he picks up injuries, which is a good reason for Arteta to prefer a reliable midfielder like Rice.
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