Tottenham Hotspur have been given a green light in their pursuit of James Maddison...
What's the word?
Earlier this week, transfer insider Dean Jones revealed that Spurs were huge admirers of the Leicester City midfielder. "It would be an amazing player for them to land just as the seasons getting underway," he claimed to GIVEMESPORT.
The north Londoners are said to be in the market for a new playmaker to round off their summer spending spree, as per the Evening Standard.
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football.london reporter Alasdair Gold also believes that "Spurs would be in like a shot" if he became available for transfer and now that opportunity may well have risen.
The Foxes' own transfer plans have stalled and they are the only club that is yet to make a signing, just three weeks before the start of the new Premier League campaign. And according to John Percy of the Telegraph, the Midlands outfit will need to sell before they can buy.
Names such as Boubakary Soumare, Jannik Vestergaard and Ryan Bertrand are considered to be expendable but now, there is an increasing chance of Leicester having to 'consider offers for players they would ordinarily want to keep, such as James Maddison, Kelechi Iheanacho and [Timothy] Castagne.'
Time to strike
If that turns out to be the case, then Lilywhites sporting director Fabio Paratici must pounce on a desperate Brendan Rodgers as he needs substantial funds to bolster his team heading into the 2022/23 season.
Some reports have suggested that Maddison would be available for £50m, which for a homegrown, playmaking talent is pretty reasonable.
Maddison has consistently delivered in the Premier League in recent years and was a standout for the Foxes across both the English top-flight and the Europa League.
He scored 18 goals and laid on a further 12 assists across 52 appearances, whilst over the course of his career at the King Power Stadium he has scored or assisted once every 141 minutes.
Once lauded as a "special talent" by The Times journalist Henry Winter, Maddison is comparable to Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes (by FBref), which only further highlights his creative ability.
Maddison ranks inside the top 10% of his positional peers across Europe for non-penalty goals (0.43 per 90) and the top 12% for assists (0.33 per 90).
With the Foxes in a precarious position in the transfer market, it would be foolish if Spurs did not launch a bid for the Englishman, who has also been dubbed a "genius" by BBC Norfolk's Rob Butler.
He would surely be the perfect end to Antonio Conte's summer spree.
AND in other news, "I spoke to a contact..": Transfer insider drops Spurs claim, Conte will be fuming...