James Maddison has been linked with Newcastle for almost a year.
The subject of a number of failed bids last summer, the England international has since been relegated at Leicester.
As a result, Maddison is seemingly up for grabs ahead of the opening of the summer transfer window and – once again – Newcastle are being touted as a potential landing spot.
Tottenham, however, are believed to be offering competition on that front.
With just a year left on his contract and with the Foxes in the Championship, it is hardly much of a surprise to see a number of teams keen on Maddison.
Still, Newcastle might have an advantage.
Working with Eddie Howe could sway James Maddison to Newcastle
Indeed, according to the Daily Mail, the situation may have changed somewhat.
While initial noises seemed to point towards Maddison wanting to move to London, Newcastle may now be leading the race.
The report suggests working with Eddie Howe and playing Champions League football next season is of particular interest to Maddison.
For their part, Leicester are still said to be demanding £60m for the 26-year-old, a player Gary Lineker hailed as “exceptional” even despite the club’s awful season.
A penny for Gabby Agbonlahor’s thoughts
Well, well, well.
Though it would be nice to see a resolution in Newcastle’s chase for Maddison, this report is particularly interesting.
Gabby Agbonlahor, of course, last year claimed the club would struggle to attract players because of geography. In fact, he suggested Brentford would stand a better chance of landing targets due to the London factor.
Were Maddison to snub Spurs, undoubtedly a bigger club than Brentford, to move to St James’ Park, it would be some statement of the new power dynamics in the Premier League.
Clearly, there’s a long way to go in the chase for Maddison but oh that would be sweet.
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