Newcastle United would have to offer close to £60m to tempt Leicester into parting with star midfielder James Maddison.
The Magpies failed with an initial offer of £40m for the England international on Friday. Sources in the East Midlands have suggested that Leicester’s need to recoup transfer funds to finance their own recruitment drive mean that they would need a significant portion of any fee for Maddison up front – which is not how Newcastle would prefer to do business this summer.
i understands Leicester value Maddison closer to the £60m mark, a fee which would smash Newcastle’s current transfer record.
The Magpies hierarchy are considering whether to table another bid but Leicester do not appear to be encouraging further offers. The Magpies also have interest in Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemans and are actively trying to bring in another forward player before Saturday’s Premier League curtain raiser against newcomers Nottingham Forest.
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They have received encouragement from Burnley in their pursuit of Maxwel Cornet but the two clubs are still apart on valuation. The Ivorian missed the Clarets’ season opener at Huddersfield but may return for their game against Luton after negotiations surrounding his exit broke down.
It has been a frustrating fortnight for Newcastle, with Eddie Howe admitting over the weekend that the club had hoped to have a wide player and striker on board by the time the season started.
The Magpies are working with the parameters of financial fair play and are struggling to land their top targets, with offers for Everton’s Anthony Gordon and Jack Harrison of Leeds both turned down.
There is a general feeling the market is a tough one to operate in, with Newcastle far from alone in struggling to land the additions they want. With the season underway next week, there’s hope that the loan market will move up a gear.
Indeed i understands the club are in pole position to sign Timo Werner if Chelsea decide to sanction a move to a Premier League club. Newcastle have registered an interest and are prepared to pay a loan fee and a proportion of his wages – but the Blues are waiting on transfers of their own before letting the Germany international go.
Nearly 90,000 people watched back-to-back friendly wins for Newcastle over the weekend as they warmed up for the season by defeating Atalanta and Athletic Bilbao.
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