Newcastle’s stance on James Maddison deal revealed

Newcastle United are going to find it ‘difficult’ to sign Leicester City’s James Maddison as they prepare to bring in Sandro Tonali from AC Milan in a huge transfer.

Will James Maddison join Newcastle?

It’s no secret that the Magpies are admirers of Maddison, who was one of few Leicester players to emerge with any credit after they were relegated last season. The England international contributed with ten goals and nine assists in 30 games, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Foxes in the top-flight.

With Maddison entering the final year of his contract, a departure seems inevitable this summer, but so far an agreement has not been reached with any club, with Newcastle and Spurs thought to be keen.

However, with Tonali poised to join the north-east side in a deal worth an initial £55m, Sky Sports explained how that will impact what Newcastle can spend elsewhere as they seek to stay within the FFP limits.

“Sky Sports News has been told – with Leicester City demanding more than £50m for Maddison – Newcastle currently could not afford to buy him and Tonali without the risk of falling outside financial fair play rules. As a result, manager Eddie Howe has decided a defensive midfielder like Tonali is a bigger priority than the more attacking Maddison.

“Newcastle haven’t ruled out the possibility of an agreement with Leicester later in the window, if the newly-relegated club were prepared to drastically reduce their asking price, or if Howe decides he wants to try to finance the deal by selling another player.”

It has been claimed that Leicester want £80m for their star man.

Will James Maddison leave Leicester?

Clearly, nothing is imminent with Maddison from Newcastle, and that’s a blow for the player as you would imagine that he would have been very keen to move to St. James’ Park, particularly as they have Champions League football.

Of course, the door now opens for other clubs, especially Spurs, and if they do make a bid it could force Newcastle, or anyone else, into action. For Leicester, it’s all about getting the best possible fee, and in an ideal world it would be sorted quickly to give Enzo Maresca some much-needed funds to bring in his own players.

It does appear that this is one that will drag on, but you would expect Maddison to get his move, as ultimately that would be the best outcome for all parties given his contract situation.