Newcastle and Tottenham pushing to sign Leicester's James Maddison; Foxes want a fee in excess of £50m for England international; West Ham are one of a number of the clubs interested in Harvey Barnes; Leicester believe winger is worth north of £40m
Wednesday 21 June 2023 07:20, UK
Leicester want a fee in excess of £50m for James Maddison, amid strong interest from Newcastle and Tottenham in the England international.
The Foxes consider Maddison their strongest asset and will not be deterred from their valuation despite being relegated and the midfielder having only one year left on his contract.
Newcastle and Spurs are both pushing to sign Maddison and confident in their own right over their ability to bring him to their club.
Newcastle, whose interest stems back to the January transfer window, have Champions League football to tempt him with but Spurs are hoping he would be keen on being integral to Ange Postecoglou's plans and prefer living in London.
The player is also represented by the same agency - CAA Base - as the ex-Celtic boss.
Spurs made initial contact with Leicester more than a week ago but nothing was formally offered nor agreed, while they are also understood to have asked about winger Harvey Barnes.
Meanwhile, West Ham are one of a number of the clubs interested in Barnes and Leicester also believe he is worth north of £40m.
Barnes has been on Arsenal's radar in the past.
Sky Sports' Nick Wright:
Maddison's reputation is untarnished despite Leicester's relegation. In a difficult season for the club, he still managed 10 goals and nine assists in Premier League games alone.
It was a continuation of his outstanding body of work at the King Power Stadium. Over the course of five seasons, he has established himself as one of the Premier League's best attacking midfielders.
His status among the elite is evident in the statistics. Since his arrival at Leicester from Norwich in 2018, only two players - Kevin De Bruyne and Trent Alexander-Arnold - have created more chances in the Premier League, while only three - Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane and Heung Min-Son - have had more shots on goal.
Maddison also ranks in the top eight for assists and big chances created. With 43 goals in that period, only 18 players have scored more.
The numbers add up to show why he is in such high demand. It would be no surprise to see more suitors emerge in the weeks ahead.
Sky Sports News senior reporter Rob Dorsett:
"There will be a big clear out at Leicester. It is as simple as that.
"However, they will not sell any players on the cheap and it could be that four or five players leave the club this summer.
"The interesting factor is that Leicester are planning to be back in the Premier League next season so they do not want to sell everyone now and then have to rebuy them all in 12 months' time.
"But the reality is they do have to cut their cloth accordingly and there are certain players who are Premier League players.
"James Maddison is the epitome of that."
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