What if Arsenal had signed Maddison this season?

Stefan Bienkowski

• 28 Oct 2021 18:06 BST
• 7 min read

Arsenal spent no less than £150 million in the summer transfer window in a bid to upgrade Mikel Arteta’s dysfunctional side and get them back towards a top-four finish in the Premier League.

However, despite making a number of high-profile signings, one player that didn’t make the move to North London was James Maddison, despite the club’s interest in signing him.

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Indeed, according to Football London, Arsenal were extremely interested in signing the Leicester City playmaker but never got round to matching the £60 million asking price.

But what if Maddison had made the move to Arsenal in the summer?

A different midfield option

Perhaps the most obvious difference to real life had Maddison ended up joining Arsenal is that the club would have never signed Martin Odegaard from Madrid in the summer.

However, while Arsenal fans may not have minded that due to the fact that the Norwegian talent has only managed one goal and one assist in eight games this season, it’s worth bearing in mind that Maddison isn’t doing much better for Leicester this time around either.

What Maddison’s arrival could have potentially disrupted was the continued development of Emile Smith Rowe, who has stepped in for Odegaard on a number of occasions this season.

While Maddison may have simply stepped into Odegaard’s place in Arteta’s squad, his substantial transfer fee would have likely demanded that he be made the main playmaker in the squad and subsequently push Smith Rowe to the periphery of the team.

Causing issues elsewhere in the team

Indeed, the biggest issue with Arsenal signing Maddison last summer would have been the player’s astronomical transfer fee of £60m and what that would have done to the club’s budget for the remainder of the season.

Not only could that higher fee have caused Arsenal to bow out of signing Ben White or goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, but it could have also emptied the club’s coffers ahead of the January window, in which Arsenal will almost certainly need to sign a new striker.

While Leicester would have been within their right to demand that kind of price for Maddison, such a fee would have stopped Arsenal from potentially fixing their defence and forward line. And as such left holes all over squad.