'Would've been higher' - Ray Parlour says Arsenal was close to signing £70m man before Martin Odegaard

Ray Parlour thinks Arsenal could've signed James Maddison in the summer transfer window before Martin Odegaard. According to Football London, Mikel Arteta was keen on bringing the Leicester City man to Emirates. However, they ended up pushing for the Norway international’s transfer. Speaking to talkSPOR, Parlour has told that Maddison’s price of ‘£70 million’ was ‘too much’ for the Gunners in the summer.

“He has done really well,” said the ex-midfielder   “He is the sort of player that works hard off the ball, which you need as much as being the creative player.   “Odegaard has been excellent. When he was on loan, he probably showed enough for the manager to say ‘let’s get him on a permanent basis’.   “I think, if I am honest, Maddison would have been higher up to buy than Odegaard, at the time. But Leicester might have been asking for too much money.   “Probably, at the time, they couldn’t throw £70 million at a player, so they have gone with Odegaard and it has been a good decision because he has played well in the past few weeks.”

 

source - hitc

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