Leicester City and Leeds United played out a 1-1 draw on Tuesday and Match Of The Day singled out Newcastle United target James Maddison for praise after his performance.
Newcastle have been in the hunt for James Maddison pretty much since the takeover went through and as the summer transfer window approaches they remain in the frame for the England international’s signature. There has recently been talk of him preferring a move to Tottenham, it’s very possible that his position on that has changed watching the fall of that club recently.
Wherever he ends up next season, James Maddison is still a Leicester player for now and he’s giving it his all to keep them in the Premier League. He provided a beautiful assist for Jamie Vardy against Leeds on Tuesday night and was unfortunate to not get more out of the game.
Gary Lineker said James Maddison was ‘exceptional’ against Leeds
Speaking on Match Of The Day, host Gary Lineker said: “The one real stand-out from the game, not for the first time this season, was the performance of James Maddison who was exceptional.”
Prompting this response from Ian Wright: “He’s been unfortunate, he’s had a few injuries but when he’s in the side the positions he picks up and the passes he makes, he never wastes anything.”
Maddison has been a stand-out player for struggling Leicester this season and you wonder how different their fate may have been had he been fit all season instead of missing a huge chunk of football in January.
No news could be good news for Newcastle
Alongside Youri Tielemans Leicester have two players who are far too good to go down. If they fail to beat the drop you’d imagine they’d be the first ones out the door. In fact, they’ll struggle to keep either of them regardless of Premier League safety.
Newcastle definitely retain an interest in the 26-year-old playmaker having remained patient and biding their time for the right moment. They’ve tested the waters with Leicester with a couple of bids that fell below the Foxes valuation but have been happy to wait it out to get the deal that Newcastle think reflects fair value.
While the media chatter around Maddison has cooled off lately, that might actually be a good sign. Newcastle’s recruitment team prefer to work from the shadows and would rather the deal was done before anybody heard about it. So in this case, no news could be good news.
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