Newcastle United returning with third bid for James Maddison – The Times | OneFootball

Newcastle United are still determined to sign James Maddison.

The Times have now reported that their information is that Eddie Howe and his recruitment team are still keen on the midfielder and are looking to land him in the January 2023 transfer window.

Newcastle United made an initial bid of £40m at the end of July for James Maddison.

Then when that was turned down, United returned with a £45m offer for the 25 year old midfielder.

Brendan Rodgers and Leicester City were dismissive of Newcastle’s interest at the time, after the initial £40m bid, the Foxes boss said it might buy ‘three quarters of the left leg’ of James Maddison.

However, The Times say that having failed with that second offer of £45m in early August, it hasn’t put Newcastle off, with the club set to make a third bid in January and hoping Leicester will be willing to reach a compromise deal this time.

Leicester City weren’t in a position to bring in any new players in the summer until selling Wesley Fofana to Chelsea for £75m late in the window, paying out £15m for Wout Faes as a central defensive replacement.

James Maddison was said at the time to be interested in a potential Newcastle United summer move and The Times say that their information is that the midfielder’s interest in NUFC remains.

Maddison may have been persuaded to not push any interest in Newcastle United last month, in the hope that things would improve at Leicester. However, with only one point from seven games they are rock bottom of the Premier League and already five points from safety.

With a remarkable 22 goals already conceded, Leicester are struggling to pick up draws, never mind wins.

Looking from the outside, you would imagine that Newcastle’s chances of success in January, will much depend on how willing James Maddison is to push to leave Leicester City.

He has been one of the few positives for the Foxes so far, scoring three Premier League goals and getting one assist, so no surprise that Newcastle United are still interested. They brought in the new striker in Alexander Isak in the summer but not the extra creative player in midfield and James Maddison fits that bill.

Last season he scored twelve goals and got eight assists, whilst in the just over four years he has been at Leicester, Maddison has scored an impressive 48 goals (all competitions) in total, from midfield.

With only one game for England despite his impressive Premier League stats for Leicester, it must be a huge source of frustration for James Maddison. He turns 26 two days after England kick off against Iran in their first group game at the Qatar world cup but seemingly zero chance of Maddison being involved.

Both Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier have got games for England since signing for Newcastle United, which won’t do any harm if James Maddison needs persuading, assuming Newcastle do return with a new bid.