Sky journalist claims he was told that £40m PL player was desperate to join Newcastle

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Newcastle United have made just one senior signing so far this summer, and it is a player who Toon fans did not expect to arrive in the North East.

Sandro Tonali has joined the club for £55million from AC Milan, becoming the marquee midfield signing that Eddie Howe had been craving.

A move for the Italian came completely out of the blue and shocked Toon fans, who now can’t wait to see Tonali in action. They might not have to wait much longer, with the 23-year-old back on Tyneside ahead of pre-season.

But in the weeks and months leading up to Tonali’s arrival, it looked like another midfielder was going to be the marquee signing at St James’ Park.

James Maddison was the talk of the Toon for a long time. Newcastle have chased him relentlessly, with the interest dating back to last summer.

There was a bit of a tug of war between the Magpies and Tottenham Hotspur, but in the end it was Spurs who came out on top.

Newcastle pulled out of a deal when they decided he was not an essential signing, leaving the door wide open for Tottenham to complete a £40million deal with Leicester City.

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglu has since stated that he could tell Maddison wanted to join the North London club, but a new claim form Sky Sports journalist Pete Graves suggests otherwise.

James Maddison wanted Newcastle move

Graves has been speaking on the Transfer Talk podcast, and shared something he was recently told about Maddison.

“They obviously liked James Maddison,” he said.

“People were telling me – even just yesterday I spoke to people who are quite close to Maddison, who said that Maddison really, really had his heart set on a move to Newcastle.

“He has gone to Spurs. I think in the end it came down to wages. Newcastle have got a very stringent salary cap in place and they’re nowhere near the wage structure that some of the top teams in the Premier League at this moment in time. And they’re happy with that.”

Money talks for Maddison

There was plenty of speculation that Maddison was tempted to move to Newcastle. He spoke to the likes of Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson about linking up at St James’ Park.

But Graves believes it came down to wages. The Magpies simply could not offer the wage packet that Maddison wanted, while Tottenham could.

It has been claimed that he is getting £170,000-a-week from Spurs, which is more than anyone earns at Newcastle. In that respect, you can see why Howe’s side distanced themselves.

But if Maddison really did have his heart set on a move to Newcastle, why was the wage so important? He still likely would have been one of the Magpies’ top earners.

Perhaps he was eager to join Newcastle, until Tottenham were prepared to offer him so much more. Considering this will likely be the last big contract of his career, you can understand his decision.