James Maddison is key to easing Leicester financial losses
TOM COLLOMOSSE: Selling James Maddison is key to easing Leicester’s record £92m losses… Newcastle and Spurs will be circling again this summer but knee issues and an expiring contract will drive his value down
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If there were any doubts about the busy summer that awaits James Maddison, four words from Leicester chief executive Susan Whelan dispelled them.
In the statement that accompanied Leicester’s record losses of £92.5million, Whelan said ‘profits from player trading’ would be a key part of the club’s plan.
On the face of it, there is one simple way to generate a profit this summer: he is 26 years old, wears the No 10 shirt and has nine goals and five assists in the Premier League this term.
All enquiries from the Premier League elite were knocked back in January but make no mistake, they will return.
Newcastle made two bids last summer and there is believed to be interest from Tottenham, who have been following Maddison’s progress since his Coventry days.
Leicester will listen to offers for James Maddison in the summer after record financial losses
The England international is sure to attract interest from leading Premier League clubs
Arsenal took a look in summer 2021 but opted to sign Martin Odegaard instead – a year after Manchester United had baulked at a £70m asking price.
Yet here is the snag: Maddison has only one year remaining on his contract. Last summer, Leicester wanted more than £60m for their star man.
Maddison is one of the best players in the division but rivals know that unless he signs a new deal, he will cost nothing in summer 2024.
That is why it may be difficult for Leicester to persuade Maddison’s suitors to hit that number.
The other complication is that the playmaker has been managing a knee problem, which effectively ended his chances of contributing to England’s World Cup campaign and has required at least one injection, as well as a scan, to keep him on the pitch.
Boss Brendan Rodgers admitted Maddison’s knee was ‘not 100 per cent’ after he had captained the side in the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United last month.
It remains to be seen whether Maddison is able to nurse the injury through the rest of that campaign and whether that will alter his plans for the summer.
Maddison will be a loss to Leicester but he is 26 and only has a year left on his contract
Maddison on the ball during Leicester’s disappointing 1-0 loss at Southampton last week
The club would like Maddison to sign a new deal and part of that strategy has been to make him captain for recent games, with Jonny Evans and Youri Tielemans injured.
But Rodgers is realistic. ‘I won’t be begging for a player to stay,’ he said last month.
‘This is a great club, there’s great support here on the pitch, off the pitch and if you’ve been here a while you understand what the club is all about and where it wants to go.
‘But a player’s career is short, they always have to think of the future, but as long as that concentration and focus is here whilst they are here then that’s all I ever ask.’
The other issue for Leicester is that Maddison is one of few players with high value. Harvey Barnes would command a market, but James Justin, Leicester’s other impressive young Englishman, has been desperately unlucky with injuries.
So Maddison is the big one. With eight players out of contract this summer, Leicester need to fund a squad rebuild against a difficult financial backdrop.
However much they may wish otherwise, the club know the time has come to cash in.
Harvey Barnes is one of the few other Leicester players who may command transfer value
