Three reasons why Liverpool should avoid James Maddison

Would he fit into the system?

Throughout much of the former Norwich man’s career, he’s played as an attacking midfielder behind a central striker. Liverpool don’t play that way, and the few times Klopp experimented with a 4-2-3-1 it hasn’t fully worked.

We’re not saying Maddison couldn’t be signed and then played as a central midfielder, or that the Reds wouldn’t use him as a No. 10 at times – but right now that’s an awful lot of money to spend on someone who won’t automatically fit in with the preferred way of playing.

And you can see his effectiveness drops when the 22-year-old is moved away from those forward areas. In 84 games as an attacking midfielder, Maddison has 22 goals and 22 assists. That’s an excellent return, you can’t dispute that.

But as a central midfielder those numbers drop significantly to three and one. Interestingly, the starlet does well in a left midfield role, but sadly for him it’s not one he would carry out at the club.

So you’ve got a good player, he definitely is, but one that would cost a lot and wouldn’t automatically improve the team he’s going in to. It would be more of a vanity buy, and Liverpool don’t do those any more.