Arsenal's summer transfer window was dominated with speculation over James Maddison's future at Leicester City.
The 24-year-old Foxes star has less than three years remaining on his existing contract at the King Power Stadium and was the subject of considerable interest from the Gunners.
football.london reported in the summer that Leicester were demanding at least £60million for Maddison - something that proved to be the major stumbling block in negotiations over the England international.
Instead of carrying on trying to bring the price for Maddison down, Arsenal went out and completed the permanent signing of former loanee Martin Odegaard for around £30m, half the price of what Leicester wanted.
Now, former Leicester man Steve Howey has claimed that his old club would have definitely taken the money for Maddison if Arsenal decided to make such an offer.
"I think Leicester would have happily taken the money but that deal’s dead now, with Odegaard coming in," Howey told Football Transfer Tavern.
"For me, I think it’s a case of Brendan Rodgers getting him in and saying: 'Listen, that deal’s gone, concentrate'.
"If you want to be away, give the performances that you were giving that got you noticed in the first place, then you haven’t got an issue and if you want to go and we can get good money for you, brilliant, happy all round.
"But if you have them performances and you’re quite happy, we’ll offer you a contract."
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers said last month that he expects it to be a huge season for Maddison on a personal level after the Foxes managed to keep hold of the England midfielder.
"It's been unfortunate for James; he suffered from a number of injuries which have curtailed his progress," Rodgers said in late-Augsut.
"This will be a big year for him, trying to maintain that fitness. You need a little bit of luck with that as well.
"But you saw how hard he is working for the team. You see his quality and how he takes the ball, his eye for the last pass.
"He is a wonderful talent. All he can do is play to the highest level consistently for Leicester and see where it takes him."
