Tottenham Hotspur hero Gary Lineker has been left red-faced eight months after making a thinly-veiled dig at Arsenal.
The Gunners were heavily linked with a move for Leicester City playmaker James Maddison over the course of the summer transfer window but a move never materialised. The Foxes were demanding more than £60million for the England international and the north Londoners eventually turned their attention to former loanee Martin Odegaard instead.
And during that time, Lineker weighed in on the situation, telling Maddison that a move to the Emirates Stadium would be a step backwards. His tweet read: "From my experience, taking a backward step never ends well", tagging the 25-year-old in the process.
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Brendan Rodgers' side had finished above Arsenal in back-to-back Premier League campaigns but this season has been a completely different story. The Gunners currently sit fourth in the league table despite having played three fewer matches than fifth-placed Manchester United.
Comparatively, Leicester have endured a difficult few months. The east Midlands outfit are 12th in the league standings, a far cry from the fifth-placed finishes they enjoyed in the previous two campaigns.
The decision to bring the aforementioned Odegaard to the Gunners has since paid off. The Norwegian playmaker has enjoyed an extremely productive few months at the Emirates, leaving a huge impression on manager Mikel Arteta.
“He was terrific again today, in every aspect of the game; what he had to do in defending, when we were high and deep; in build-up phases; in the final third, the way he understood and managed the game when he was needed,” Arteta said after his team defeated Leicester 2-0 on Sunday afternoon.
“He’s come a long way since his arrival, he is showing great maturity and responsibility on the pitch and he makes the other players better, I think.”
Asked whether he thought the deal to sign Odegaard for £30million was a bargain, the Spaniard added: “I don’t know, it’s still a bit early to say that. We were certainly convinced he was a player that could fit in our clubs, in with our morals.
"He has every value that we want players to represent this club, and then he has the quality for what we want to do. We are really happy with him.”
