Newcastle United want to sign James Maddison in January, and the Toon players at the World Cup have been doing their best to sell the club to the Leicester City midfielder.
The 26-year-old has been in Qatar with the England squad, whose tournament came to an end last week when they lost 2-1 to France in the quarter finals.
There was huge excitement when Maddison was called up to the squad, but he ended the tournament without playing a single minute.
That was largely down to injury, with Maddison one of six players not to be used by Gareth Southgate. That list includes Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope, who was joined at the World Cup by club teammates Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier.
There was apparently a lot of ‘banter’ flying around between the Newcastle players and Maddison – mainly because of the upcoming clash between Eddie Howe’s side and the Foxes.
But a new report from the Chronicle claims that Maddison was being told all about life at St James’ Park right now.
Maddison told exactly how exciting the Newcastle project is
According to the Chronicle, Maddison’s England teammates have been telling him just how exciting the new project is at St James’ Park.
They will no doubt hope that their words can convince him to push for a move to the North East, after the Magpies failed to sign him in the summer.
Dan Ashworth launched two bids for Maddison, but they were both rejected by Leicester, who wanted £60million for the playmaker.
That was enough to put Newcastle off, but he remains one of the club’s top targets heading into January. But a deal will only happen if the price is right.
Howe is a big fan of Maddison, and so is Ashworth. But they will not be desperate to sign him. He will only join Newcastle if Leicester lower their asking price from the summer.
Maddison would be a great fit at St James’ Park. In the words of Brendan Rodgers, he is an ‘outstanding‘ player. And he is someone who could get even more out of Wilson.
The pair have spent a lot of time together in Qatar, but Toon fans would much rather see them playing for the same team in black and white come 2023.