Newcastle United have made James Maddison their next priority signing and will resume their pursuit of the Leicester City playmaker in the summer.
Fabrizio Romano has told Caught Offside that Newcastle United will revive their pursuit to sign top target James Maddison in the summer. But the Magpies could be set to face competition from Manchester City for the Leicester City midfielder.
The transfer guru wrote in his exclusive Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside, “Newcastle are following Maddison as a priority target since long time. We will see if Manchester City will join the race, at the moment there are no contacts ongoing as they are still working on Jude Bellingham deal alongside Liverpool and Real Madrid.”
Needless to say, Newcastle have been linked with a move for Maddison for quite some time now and even lodged two bids worth £40 million and £45 million last summer. However, both offers were swiftly rebuffed.
Since then, Maddison has gone on to enjoy another productive season for his side and has been one of the few bright sparks in the 2022/23 campaign, having scored eight goals and assisted four in 15 league games. He has been the Foxes’ best player this season and continues to play a pivotal role in their battle for Premier League survival.
The Englishman also earned a spot in England’s World Cup squad off the back of his consistent displays over the past couple of seasons. Thus, it came as little surprise when Newcastle made another approach over the 26-year-old’s availability last month, only for the Leicester hierarchy to make it perfectly clear that he was not for sale given their club’s fragile position in the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Despite strong rumours linking him with a move away from the King Power Stadium, Maddison stayed put at the King Power Stadium as the January transfer window closed. However, with his current deal expiring in 18 months, the 26-year-old will be a hot commodity once again when the summer transfer market reopens. And the Maddison to Newcastle transfer saga is expected to reignite once again this summer.
Newcastle failed to sign a deep-lying central midfielder last month and have left themselves light in the midfield department following the departure of Jonjo Shelvey to Nottingham Forest. While Maddison is not a central midfielder, he would be a very exciting signing and would solve all the creative issues as goals have dried up at St. James’ Park lately.
Maddison has registered 53 goals and 36 assists in 188 appearances for the Foxes, including 41 goals in the Premier League since joining Leicester. So it is fair to say that he is the definition of a high-volume end product in the final third, which will only increase with a better-performing team at St. James’ Park.
While the Magpies are expected to try again to sign Maddison, they will not be alone in the transfer race and may have to face a fight with Manchester City. That said, the Cityzens’ main priority appears to be acquiring the services of England sensation Jude Bellingham, who has also been linked with a switch to St. James’ Park.
Furthermore, Manchester City’s rebuild plan could be scuppered by the Premier League’s statement about alleged rule breaches and the potential ramifications that comes along with it.
Didn’t we prioritize him last summer, and then again last month?
It seems that prioritizing him has little effect in actually signing him.