James Maddison to Liverpool? Carragher says last season’s top Premier League creator would improve Reds
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes Leicester City playmaker James Maddison should be in Jurgen Klopp’s crosshairs.
The 22-year-old midfielder was the only player to create 100 or more chances in the Premier League last season and has been earmarked as a future England star.
Should Liverpool sign Maddison? Five things to know…
- Maddison joined Leicester City last summer in a deal worth £20m from Norwich City.
- Since then he has been a near-ever present in the Foxes’ starting XI.
- He created exactly 100 chances in 2018/19, the third-most among all players in Europe’s top five leagues.
- Forty-eight of Maddison’s 100 chances created were from set-pieces.
- Liverpool scored more headed goals than any team in the league last season (19).
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Of Maddison’s century of chances created, nearly half were from set-pieces, which would certainly bode well in a side as aerially dominant as Liverpool, who netted more headed goals in the league than any other club (19).
And Carragher has now endorsed the qualities of Maddison when discussing his predictions for the season on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
Gary Neville selected Maddison as his ‘Young talent’ of 2019/20, but Carragher chimed in to suggest his former club should be looking at acquiring the young attacking midfielder’s services to finally fill the No 10 void left by Philippe Coutinho.
Most chances created (100)
Most set-piece chances created (48)
Most goals from direct free-kicks (3)If James Maddison's first Premier League season was a David Beckham audition, he passed. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/Xx1MdPG0Qn
— Squawka (@Squawka) June 6, 2019
He stated: “I think he is the one player outside of the top six who Liverpool should be looking at.
“People have been talking about Coutinho coming back, but obviously that hasn’t happened as he’s gone to Bayern Munich, but if your looking in the Premier League, yes he will cost a lot of money, but he should be the one Liverpool are looking at if you’re going to that next step up.”
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‘He’s like Cantona’
Neville also gave his two cents on the potential of Maddison, name-checking some of the great No 10s of the Premier League era when referencing the young playmaker.
He said: “I think he’s outstanding, No 10s aren’t as fashionable nowadays, it’s more about wide strikers who score the goals.
“It used to be about the Zolas and Cantonas, and he is a genuine creative player who will go on to play for England and be involved in the European Championship.
“I think he is fantastic.”
