Newcastle ‘tempted’ to bid for James Maddison

Newcastle United are ‘tempted’ to make another move to sign Leicester City midfielder James Maddison, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

The lowdown: Magpies interested

The Magpies have been extensively linked with a move for Maddison this summer and are believed to have seen a £50million offer rejected earlier in the window.

Leicester are understood to be looking for a figure closer to £60million for the 25-year-old England international, who has amassed 78 direct goal contributions in 171 outings for the Midlands club.

Despite the lofty figures involved, one well-informed onlooker has suggested that Newcastle could be about to rekindle their pursuit of Maddison…

The latest: ‘Tempted’

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Jones – a journalist for Eurosport – has claimed that the North East outfit are ‘tempted’ to bid again for the one-cap ace.

He said: “They’re tempted to go one more time for James Maddison. They’ve been weighing it up. The thing that they really like about James Maddison is that he’s quite flexible in what he can bring to them.

“If you look at Newcastle at the weekend, what [Miguel] Almiron and [Allan] Saint-Maximin offer, it’s just not quite there in terms of if you’re going to knock on the door of the top six. They’re just probably going to be short of the creativity needed.”

The verdict: Make it happen

Signing a player of Maddison’s proven Premier League quality would be a significant statement of intent from PIF, particularly in light of the long-term injury suffered by current Toon creator Jonjo Shelvey.

Linked elsewhere to Everton starlet Anthony Gordon, it appears as though Dan Ashworth is still attempting to bolster the forward-thinking options at St James’ Park and the Leicester mainstay, who has successfully completed 255 dribbles in his top flight career, could be the ideal candidate.

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Last season, the man dubbed a ‘special talent’ by Henry Winter scored 18 times and provided 12 assists in 53 appearances across all competitions before picking up where he left off this term with an assist in a 7.70 Sofascore-rated display against Brentford at the weekend.

Under contract until 2024 (Transfermarkt), paying the mooted asking price for Maddison would still represent impressive business and could go a long way towards kickstarting the next phase of the Newcastle project under Eddie Howe.