Leeds United can steal a march on all their Championship rivals by making Peterborough United an upfront offer they can’t refuse for Marcus Maddison.
Indeed, Posh’s outspoken chairman Darragh MacAnthony has already revealed on his personal Twitter account that the attacking midfielder’s release fee has been activated by an unnamed club.
However, the League One outfit have refused to sell because the payment terms are not to their liking. The door is now open for other clubs to barge in.
????. Marcus has had release fee activated but not the payment way we want it. Jack as you can imagine is a stalked man so he’s in witness protection until further notice ????????for his own good. All good ???????? https://t.co/6KktKvSOKy
— Darragh MacAnthony (@DMAC102) July 4, 2018
It is surely inevitable that Maddison, 24, will transfer clubs this summer after developing to a standard above the level of England’s third tier.
His track record at London Road is remarkable, with his 177 games for the club yielding 42 goals and an incredible 61 assists. No player in the top four divisions in England has laid on more assists than Maddison in the last three seasons.
Little wonder there are clubs beating down MacAnthony’s door to land the player.
According to the reliable Football Insider, Leeds are among them and are in hot pursuit after narrowly failing to sign him two years ago.
Maddison has come on in leaps and bounds since then. He is entering his peak years and should get better, still.
Last season, he had a direct hand in 34 goals through 12 of his own and 22 assists.
Some Leeds fans have pointed out they don’t need Maddison as they already have Pablo Hernandez and Samuel Saiz on their books.
However, Hernandez is well into his 30s and Saiz was wretched in the second half of last season. Top players are worth their weight in gold and Maddison belongs in that category.
He could be a huge figure in Leeds’ own promotion push if they are able to make Peterborough an offer in which most of the money arrives this summer, rather than backdated.