Manchester United's laughable valuation of Lingard preventing Maddison swap deal
Manchester United have understandably made a creative midfielder a priority signing in this January's transfer window, with James Maddison reportedly topping their wish list.
The club's interest in the newly-capped England international comes as no real shock, with Paul Pogba still suffering with a somewhat mysterious injury having not started a match since September.
Despite that fact, the Frenchman has only created nine fewer chances (16) than the squad's top player - Andreas Pereira (25) - in that regard. There isn't a single United player in the top 30 players for key passes this season.
Maddison has created almost twice as many opportunities for teammates as the aforementioned Brazilian, with 49 - enough to rank fifth in the Premier League.
Moreover, United's central midfielders have notched a not-so-grand total of four league goals, of which Scott McTominay has contributed three. Maddison has netted more on his own, with six.
One player who now famously hasn't chipped in with a single goal or assist this season, or indeed stretching back to Boxing Day of 2018 in the league, is Jesse Lingard. Nevertheless, the England international is reportedly being used as a pretty light makeweight in United's pursuit of Maddison.
The Red Devils board certainly don't see it that way, however, apparently valuing Lingard at a whopping £40m, and offering a further £45m to Leicester in a bid to tempt the Foxes.
In theory, an offer placing Maddison at £85m is a very generous one, but Lingard's valuation in that proposal is warped beyond belief. That's not to say Leicester shouldn't be interested in the midfielder's services whatsoever, just that almost every underlying stat suggests that Lingard would be a huge downgrade.
The 27-year-old is somewhat harshly criticised at times, and having created two chances per 90 minutes this season he has little say in how those chances are finished off at times. Moreover, the England international and former Three Lions favourite of Gareth Southgate does keep the ball well, with a pass accuracy of 87 per cent one of very few attacking or possession based metrics in which he outperforms Maddison (84 per cent).
He's a hard worker too, but for a player to be valued at £40m, that glaring lack of goals or assists for a player of his position - in a side that sees plenty of the ball - is inexplicable.
There will surely come a time when Lingard's luck in the final third will turn, and you don't become an ineffective player overnight, but he's a rotation player at United and would be no more than that in a stronger Leicester squad too. With that in mind, the Foxes' valuation of both Maddison and Lingard certainly won't align to Manchester United's reported first proposal, and nor should it.
Cut United's Lingard valuation in half and put that up in cash and it's an offer to be taken seriously, if not accepted.
As things stand, James Maddison is the sixth highest rated player in the Premier League this season (7.52), while Jesse Lingard (6.29) ranks 260th. The difference in each player's performance levels has been huge and one that isn't reflected in what at this stage is a derisory offer.
