Everton are leading the pack of Premier League clubs, which includes bitter rivals Liverpool, in the race to sign Norwich City’s James Maddison, according to Sky Sports.
What’s the story, then?
Sky Sports report that both Merseyside rivals, along with champions Manchester City, Tottenham and Southampton are in the hunt for the man who bagged 15 goals last season.
They claim that a bid between £20m and £25m would be enough to snare the England under-21 international, as the Canaries’ parachute payments come to an end this summer.
They also state that new Everton boss Marco Silva is a known admirer of Maddison, who is currently recovering from a knee ligament injury.
Maddison’s arrival would be a better deal than Rooney’s return
Everton should never have gone back in for Rooney if they have genuine ambitions of moving into the top seven and beyond.
Rooney is yesterday’s man and the Toffees need to be snaring younger talent, who are the envy of the elite clubs and Maddison fits the bill perfectly.
Everton signed too many number 10s last summer but if Rooney’s protracted move to MLS outfit DC United finally materialises, that will clear out one space in the squad for Maddison to take up.
He also has more legs than Rooney, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Davy Klaassen, so could be at the heart of a new high-tempo approach that would surely please the Goodison fans under Silva.
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