It is no secret that Manchester United have lacked a proper no.10 in the past few seasons, especially with Juan Mata's rapid decline, Jesse Lingard's unproductive nature, Andreas Pereira's roughness and Paul Pogba's insistence on making more drama than appearances on the pitch.
As a result of this, several reports have linked United with creative midfielders, yet the top two targets that seem to have arisen are Tottenham's Christian Eriksen and Leicester's James Maddison.
Eriksen has made his voice heard about leaving Spurs, and he was essentially frozen out by Mauricio Pochettino earlier on in the season, yet has had his Tottenham career somewhat revitalised by new manager Jose Mourinho, who has played him in that last six games in all competitions.
Out of the 17 appearances that Eriksen has made in the Premier League, he has started nine and has scored just two goals and provided two assists, which could be a sign of his unwillingness to play for Spurs any longer.
On the other hand, James Maddison has had a marvellous season with Leicester so far, with the Foxes sitting firmly in second place and the Englishman playing 20 of the 21 Premier League games. During that time, Maddison has scored six goals and provided three assists, whilst also being a cog in Brendan Rodgers' midfield trio along with Youri Tielemans and Wilfried Ndidi.
Whilst Maddison has clearly had the better season so far, Eriksen's quality is unquestionable, with the Dane scoring eight goals and providing 12 assists last season, with only Ryan Fraser (14) and Eden Hazard (15) providing more assists. To put this into perspective, Maddison provided just seven assists last season.
Maddison did overtake Eriksen in some key stats last season however, such as completing 1.1 dribbles every game, with Eriksen completing just 0.5, with the Englishman also playing an average of 2.8 key passes every game, whilst the Dane just 2.1.
However, the present is what matters the most at the end of the day, yet even in this area, Maddison is not totally dominant. Eriksen is clearly much more calm and tidy on the ball, being dispossessed just 0.8 every game and having just 1.2 bad touches, whilst Maddison is dispossessed on average once every game and has 2.1 bad touches every game.
There is also the question of the price tag, with Maddison being valued very highly by Leicester, and after pushing Manchester United all the way for Harry Maguire's signature, they will be keen to do the same and charge possibly £90 million and even more for Maddison.
On the other hand, Eriksen is on his final few months of his contract and Spurs will be keen to sell since he looks unwilling to sign a new contract, which means that the Dane might be available for just £40 million, which is a bargain in today's market for a player of that quality.
Whatever the case, Manchester United need a new no.10, and fast especially if Pogba leaves the club, leaving them with a selection of an old Mata, a disastrous Lingard, and an average Pereira.
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