Leicester City are hoping to price Newcastle United out of a move for James Maddison by asking for £60million, according to reports.
Maddison earned a place in the England squad for the 2022 World Cup after a superb start to the season for the Foxes.
Arsenal were interested in signing him in 2021 but opted for Martin Odegaard – who is now the Gunners’ captain.
After a brilliant 2021-22 campaign for Leicester, there was interest from Tottenham and Newcastle.
The Magpies reportedly lodged a £40million bid to sign Maddison last summer, but the offer was turned down by Leicester.
Having scored seven and assisted four in 13 Premier League games this season, Maddison is expected to be the subject of transfer interest next month.
Newcastle do have to contend with Financial Fair Play rules, though, and may be unable to sign the 26-year-old when the transfer window re-opens in January.
In order to put the Geordies off and make sure they do not lose their talisman halfway through a season, Leicester have set an asking price of £60m for Maddison, according to Football Insider.
A recent report from the same outlet claimed that Maddison is Newcastle’s top target for the winter window. This was also claimed by 90min.
The Foxes have ‘no intention’ of letting the attacking midfielder leave during the season.
Newcastle’s transfer budget has been ‘restricted’ because of FFP, and it would take at least £60m for Leicester to even ‘consider’ a sale, which probably means Eddie Howe’s side cannot make a deal happen.
Maddison is out of contract in 2024, which could leave the Foxes in a precarious position.
Tottenham’s interest is mentioned, though Antonio Conte does not tend to operate with an out-and-out No. 10.
Another player Spurs have been linked with is Atalanta forward Ruslan Malinovskyi.
According to Gazzetta Dello Sport, Spurs, West Ham United, and Marseille are interested in signing the 29-year-old.
The London duo do have an advantage over the French club, with Malinovskyi preferring a move to the English capital.
Malinovskyi was apparently close to leaving Atalanta last summer, but a move did not come to fruition.
The report from the Italian outlet states that Atalanta are willing to let the Ukrainian international leave for €15m.
He is out of contract next summer, so clubs may wait to sign him at the end of the season.
Spurs and West Ham may well snub the chance to sign Malinovskyi for that price given the fact he will likely be…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…