Newcastle United want to sign James Maddison, in a transfer pursuit that came out of the blue on Saturday morning.
While Toon fans were waking up the morning after the 1-0 friendly win over Atalanta, news emerged that a £40million bid had been made for the Leicester superstar.
The Telegraph broke the news, stating that the Foxes had turned down Newcastle’s approach. A second offer has since came in, but has seemingly been rebuffed as well.
Whether or not Newcastle come to the table for a third time remains to be seen, but there is no doubting that he would be a sensational signing. If they can sign him for around £50million, pundit Ally McCoist thinks it would be a bargain.
Maddison is one of the Premier League’s top talents, and would add goals and assists to a Toon team that desperately needs more.
However, news of interest and the sudden bid took Toon fans by surprise. Now the Athletic’s Chris Waugh has provided some information on Newcastle’s new top target.
Waugh on Maddison
On the latest episode of Pod On The Tyne, Waugh explained why Newcastle are pursuing Maddison.
“Ideally what Eddie Howe wants is a striker and a winger, primarily to play on the right hand side,” he said.
“What’s happened over the course of the last couple of weeks is because Newcastle are struggling to get some of their targets in those positions, Howe and the club are looking at other potential areas where you could maybe strengthen the midfield, maybe inject greater goals into midfield and that might partly solve the problem.
“So that’s where Friday’s £40million bid for James Maddison at Leicester City, which was rejected, came about.”
New approach from Newcastle
Newcastle’s move for Maddison highlights the club’s issues in the transfer market. We haven’t had it our own way at all this summer.
We’ve made three signings so far, with Matt Targett, Nick Pope and Sven Botman joining. Out of the three additions so far, it’s only the Botman deal that proved difficult on the face of it.
But attacking reinforcements have proved much harder to come by. Big names like Moussa Diaby and Alexander Isak have been linked, but are too expensive. Meanwhile, we’ve also been quoted ludicrous fees for the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ivan Toney.
Howe wants and needs more options in attack. We need to add more goals to our game. Not a single Toon player hit double figures last season, which is a big conern.
A winger and a striker is required, but they are proving difficult to obtain. That’s why Newcastle are looking elsewhere.
Maddison is predominantly an attacking midfielder, and arguably doesn’t fit Howe’s system. But could he do a job out wide? Could his arrival force Joelinton to play on the flank? Would he be able to get more out of the likes of Ryan Fraser or Miguel Almiron?
Signing Maddison would give us options in attack, and he is a wonderful player who would surely be a guaranteed star at St James’ Park. However, he won’t be coming unless Newcastle return with another offer and it’s accepted.
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