Journalist Dean Jones has handed Newcastle a potential blow in their race to sign James Maddison.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the transfer guru claimed that Tottenham ‘like’ the Leicester City playmaker and he was garnering the attention of Antonio Conte in the summer.
Maddison, of course, found the net despite the Foxes falling to a dismal 6-2 defeat to Spurs last weekend, and he is said to be valued at £60m by his current employers.
Newcastle reportedly made multiple bids for the 25-year-old attacker in the latest transfer window but neither met Leicester’s reported asking fee.
The Midlanders are said to have opened talks with their star man over fresh terms with his contract expiring in less than two years.
Jones has now stated that the one-cap England international will have to decide on his future come the end of the campaign and the journalist has stated that Spurs may be plotting a swoop.
He told GIVEMESPORT: “He’s a great player and he will have a decision to make over his future at the end of this season, I think.
“Tottenham do like him but they were not given any encouragement that he would be available for anyone to buy, so it was felt they had enough to get by for now.”
With Tottenham making a fast start to the Premier League season they have a great chance of securing Champions League football for the second successive season.
That could be a deal breaker for the Magpies’ hopes of signing Maddison and certainly something that even the most optimistic of Toon fans will know that they can’t compete with.
However, with a very different style from the north London club, Eddie Howe’s preferred 4-3-3 formation could be better suited to Maddison’s position.
Described as ‘world-class’ by England manager Gareth Southgate, the former Norwich City ace scored 18 goals and produced a further 12 assists and could thrive as one of Newcastle’s two no.8s in centre-midfield, if indeed PIF do manage to fend off the competition for his signature.
