ARSENAL have reportedly submitted a player-plus-cash bid for Leicester City ace James Maddison.
England international Maddison is high up on the summer wishlist of Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, who is looking to add more reinforcements to his squad before the season starts on Friday week.
But the Spaniard is said to not be keen on meeting Leicester’s £60million asking price for the 24-year-old.
And according to Football London, the 39-year-old has tried to reduce the Foxes’ asking price by including one of his fringe players in the deal.
It’s understood the north Londoners are planning to offload some of their out-of-favour players before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.
Joe Willock, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are all up for sale.
However, it’s not known if any of the quartet have been offered as a make-weight in the reported Maddison bid.
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Maddison made 42 appearances for Leicester last season, scoring 11 goals and providing ten assists for Brenan Rodgers’ side.
Arsenal’s pursuit of the midfielder could be made easier by the player’s reported eagerness to swap the King Power Stadium for the Emirates.
Should the Gunners fail to convince Leicester to part company with Maddison, they could be tempted to bring back Martin Odegaard.
The Norway international was on loan with the Premier League big boys last season and was one of the team’s standout players.
Spanish giants Real Madrid are said to be willing to cash in on the 22-year-old, who has only made 11 appearances for the club since joining them from Stromsgodset in January 2015.
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Arsenal have been busy in the transfer window this summer, signing three new players.
Nuno Tavares, Albert Lokonga and Ben White have all moved to the Emirates, with the latter costing the Londoners £50m.
The Gunners will kick off their Premier League campaign a week on Friday, travelling to the Brentford Community Stadium to take on newly-promoted Brentford.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
