Alasdair Gold has dropped an intriguing claim regarding Tottenham Hotspur's potential interest in Leicester City midfielder James Maddison...
What's the word?
Speaking in a Q&A on football.london, the respected insider revealed that Spurs have a long-standing interest in the Englishman, albeit with any deal likely to be difficult to carry out.
The reporter stated: "When it comes to homegrown options, Tottenham have long held an interest in Leicester star James Maddison, having considered signing him before his move to the Foxes and he is now in the last two years of his contract, but I'd think that's a tough deal to do."
Gold had been discussing the Premier League club's pursuit of Christian Eriksen, with Maddison a potential alternative if a deal cannot be struck to bring the Danish playmaker back to north London.
As the journalist also hinted, the former Norwich City ace had been a reported target for the Lilywhites prior to his eventual £20m move to the King Power Stadium in 2018, although the 25-year-old is now believed to be worth as much as £50m.
Maddison would suit Tottenham
Although a potentially tricky deal to do, the move has already been given the backing of pundit Noel Whelan, with the former Leeds striker suggesting that the £110k-per-week gem "would suit Tottenham down to the ground", having "proved he can do it in the Premier League".
As Whelan also suggested, Antonio Conte's side are seemingly lacking that figure who can make the "killer pass" in the final third, with Maddison having illustrated in the most recent campaign in particular just what a menace he can be in and around the opposition's penalty area.
Amid an inconsistent campaign for Brendan Rodgers' side collectively, on a personal note the £45m-rated playmaker enjoyed a fine season for Leicester. He scored 12 goals and provided a further eight assists in his 35 top-flight outings, while also averaging an impressive 1.4 key passes per game and creating 11 big chances in total.
That form saw the one-time Aberdeen man - who has been dubbed "outrageous" by journalist Ryan Taylor - record an outstanding 7.32 average match rating from SofaScore, by far the highest in the Leicester squad in the 2021/22 campaign.
The attacking midfielder recorded a total of 30 goal contributions across all competitions last term, taking his overall tally at the club to an impressive 45 goals and 32 assists in 170 games across all fronts over the past four years.
[snack-amp-story url= "https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-much-more" title= "Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more!"]
Although that form has perhaps gone somewhat under the radar - as he remains on the periphery at international level - it is clear to see that he is a player who poses a real threat for any opposition. The thought of him supplementing the already lethal duo of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son at Tottenham is a mouthwatering one.
Should Conte return to the 3-5-2 formation which brought him joy at Inter Milan, Maddison could well thrive as the attacking element of the midfield three, allowing him the freedom to wreak havoc as he so often does for his current club.
IN other news, Paratici has "genuine interest" in sealing "magic" £47m Spurs deal, he's Robben 2.0