---
title: "Newcastle: Keith Downie says Newcastle’s new James Maddison bid unlikely to succeed"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/newcastle-transfer-news-keith-downie-says-newcastles-new-james-maddison-bid-unlikely-to-succeed/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "David Comerford"
section: "Newcastle United News"
published: "2022-08-02T10:43:01Z"
modified: "2022-08-02T10:43:01Z"
---

# Newcastle: Keith Downie says Newcastle’s new James Maddison bid unlikely to succeed

**Newcastle United journalist Keith Downie has attempted to offer clarity on the club’s second bid for James Maddison amid ‘conflicting views’.**

### The lowdown

[The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards](https://twitter.com/LukeEdwardsTele/status/1554105622882390017) reported on Monday afternoon that Newcastle have made an ‘improved’ offer for Leicester City’s Maddison.

He claimed that the Magpies had tabled a fee ‘in excess of £45million’, albeit with payments ‘staggered’.

That would make the Englishman the most expensive player in the club’s history, eclipsing the [£39.6million](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/newcastle-united/transferrekorde/verein/762) they paid for Joelinton in 2019.

### The latest

Writing on his [Twitter](https://twitter.com/skysports_keith/status/1554391129663102977?s=21&t=nlMZnCftFKcz1Gr64G_rWA) page, Sky Sports News reporter Downie said there appears to be ‘conflicting views/info’ circulating ‘on the James Maddison second bid’.

‘The info I have personally,’ he says, ‘is it’s more around the £40m mark with some add-ons.’

Right now, it seems that Newcastle are ‘unlikely to get the midfielder at that price’.

The only way it would potentially be enough is if ‘Leicester change tact & decide they need to sell’.

\[freshpress-quiz id=”398104″\]

### The verdict

How much will Leicester demand before they consider selling Maddison?

Well, according to Downie’s Sky Sports colleague [Dharmesh Sheth](https://twitter.com/skysports_sheth/status/1553282376393965568), their ‘valuation \[is\] thought to be closer to £60million’.

That’s a pretty big gap between the two clubs, and Newcastle may be wary of splashing out that kind of sum as they carefully [monitor their compliance with FFP rules](https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/newcastle-transfer-news-james-maddison-bid-timo-werner-deal-1771383?ito=twitter_share_article-top).

\[freshpress-poll id=”403299″\]

An additional problem is that the Magpies are under pressure to act quickly.

[CBS Sports journalist](https://twitter.com/JacobsBen/status/1554161483709300736) Ben Jacobs says that Leicester will only consider selling one of Maddison and centre-back Wesley Fofana, who’s wanted by Chelsea.

That means the two clubs are effectively locked in a transfer race, just for different targets.