James Maddison has had a fantastic start to the season, scoring five goals and assisting two more in just seven league appearances, and it’s no surprise that rumours of a January move away have already started.
For the majority of the summer transfer window, the midfielder was linked with moves to Tottenham and Newcastle, with the latter submitting two bids for him, both of which were rejected by Leicester City.
Their second bid was in the £50m range, whereas the Foxes were demanding around £60m, which now seems rather reasonable given his outstanding performances week in and week out.
Craig Hope has now claimed on the True Faith podcast that PIF has the financial means to sign Newcastle United target James Maddison in January if they wish to do so. He insisted that Eddie Howe will have the funds to sign the Englishman, but signing him won’t be easy. He said:
“If Leicester are still in the bottom three, bottom four [in January] and James Maddison is playing the way he is, they’re probably not going to sell him for £50m, and to that end, I don’t think Newcastle will go to a £60m or £70m [bid] when they know they probably could have had him for low-50s if they really pushed it in the summer.
“There’s a lot of moving parts on that one – do they like Maddison? Yes. Does Eddie Howe like him? Yes. Did Eddie Howe see James Maddison as an absolute priority? Well, no, probably not, but he was one of those he looked at and thought, you know what, if you can get a very, very good player in, an exceptional player, at a price which represents value, do you do it? Well, yes, you absolutely do it.
“The Maddison money from the summer instead went on Alexander Isak. Now, is the money there to go out and buy James Maddison? Yes, the money is there to go out and buy him – the money is there for everything. That’s not the same question as are they able to go and do it, because there are the FFP parameters.
“That would give them a big decision to make.”
Newcastle has had a decent start to the season, losing only once – to Liverpool in the 98th minute. They also held reigning champions Manchester City to a 3-3 draw at St James’ Park.
Of course Newcastle have the means to sign Maddison. They are owned by the Saudi state. Leicester won’t sell him in January though unless the Saudis offer silly money (£80m+). Why on earth would they?