Newcastle have identified Leicester City’s James Maddison as the top target for January according to The Northern Echo. The 25-year-old will have just 18 months left on his contract when the winter window opens.
The Magpies tried to land the playmaker over the summer but had two bids rejected. The second bid was reportedly around £40m, though it is understood to have been heavily structured.
Leicester have limped out of the gate to start the new campaign with just 1 point. They sit at the bottom of the league table having lost the last five on the trot. Maddison has contributed 2 goals and 1 assist in his five league appearances.
Eddie Howe was hopeful of adding another midfielder with Jonjo Shelvey sidelined until November with a hamstring injury. Maddison’s teammate Youri Tielemans, Ajax’s Edson Alvarez, and Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher were also on the shortlist.
Ultimately, those efforts came up short and the injury to Bruno Guimaraes has limited Howe’s options in recent weeks. Though, Elliot Anderson has been given an opportunity over that span and has not disappointed.
Premier League pundit and former England striker Ian Wright recently claimed that Maddison wanted the move to Newcastle. If true, he remained professional and didn’t try to force the situation like his teammate Wesley Fofana, who joined Chelsea late in the window.
If Leicester’s situation doesn’t improve soon, manager Brendan Rodgers’ job could be in jeopardy. Incidentally, Chelsea have fired Thomas Tuchel this morning after a 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
Leicester is facing an exodus with a number of stars on contracts that expire over the next two seasons. Tielemans is in the final year of his deal and Leicester were open to allowing him to leave for £25m in the summer.
Another potential summer target to watch this winter is Leeds’ Jack Harrison. Newcastle had bids in the £20m range rejected for the 25-year-old, who has struggled in recent weeks.
Harrison will have just 18 months left on his contract in January and was pulled at halftime in Leeds’ 5-2 loss at Brentford over the weekend. Like Maddison, Harrison reportedly was keen on joining Newcastle this summer.
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204 comments so far
geordie157
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:16 PM
Comment #161Just noticed I put Utd earlier, oops! I’ll blame tiredness or auto correct on my phone.
I usually call them Manure, so I’ll stick to that going forwards.
geordie157
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:18 PM
Comment #162I like Potter, I don’t like Chelsea but I’d like to see an upcoming English manager get a chance. Besides, he’ll get a big compensation payout when they give him the boot.
The Last Jedi
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:20 PM
Comment #163Owen was going to leave us after 1 year for Liverpool but the knee injury stopped it
The Taco Taker
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:26 PM
Comment #164Agree Pug, a little perspective is a great thing. People seem to have a ton of things to be unnecessarily unhappy about – from not qualifying for Europe to qualifying “too soon”, not signing this player or that player. Not having won this game or that game.
The future is bright, the future is black and white!!!
9
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:33 PM
Comment #165How sure are we ASM and Bruno start on Sunday?
Tyran21
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:34 PM
Comment #166Every club Tuchel went, have the same drama. First fall out with players, next the board and then blame transfers. Hard to say who is right.
ESPO United
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:34 PM
Comment #167The local club I follow here in the states once employed Richard Nightingale who worked at Newcastle under Ashley. Richard was is a super cool guy who has a LOT of interesting stories. At the time we were a very small club playing in the 3rd tier and he was very approachable by members of the supporters club that I ran. He knew I followed Newcastle as well so we had a lot in common (oddly enough he supported Wolves). Anyways, Richard once told me part of what happened between Mike and KK and guys, if you knew everything, KK was kind of delusional. His transfer list included guys like Lampard who were never going anywhere. Now I hate(d) Ashley as much as the next guy, but even I can see KK was a little looney at that time with his requests. Just thought I’d toss that out there today as I saw someone mention Kegan earlier.
ToonDarnSarf
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:37 PM
Comment #1689 – that’s half of last season though. You’re basically picking an amazing purple patch and basing our success on that? You’re welcome to do that of course but I’d certainly say that we were riding a massive wave of optimism in that half of the season, plus we had a bit of luck in a few games (to counterbalance some bad luck in the first half of the season).
Of course those teams around our level that I mention will be worried about us, as we should be worried about them. That’s why I asked you if you’re looking at the actual squads of the big 6 clubs, which one do you honestly think we are better than? And if you look at the squads of the likes of West Ham, Villa, Wolves, and Leicester, are you are we’re better than all of them?
What happened last season is last season, it’s not relevant. Pardew managed a 5th place finish when a few players were on top form and then the following season? Not so much…
And don’t forget that our squad now has a slightly better goalkeeper, a very promising central defender, and a very promising striker. The latter two are both new to the league. Meanwhile, we have lost Krafth (did really well in the absence of Trippier) and Shelvey (key player in midfield).
We are definitely getting stronger but I still don’t see how someone could rationally put us 6th or better in terms of our squad.
Not another deJong
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:39 PM
Comment #169Shots in the penalty area:
1. Liverpool – 13
2. Manchester City – 10
3. Arsenal – 9.8
4. Tottenham – 9.2
5. Newcastle – 8.5
Key passes:
1. Manchester City – 14
2. Tottenham – 11.5
3. Liverpool – 15.2
4. Arsenal – 12.5
5. Newcastle – 11.5
Not another deJong
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:42 PM
Comment #170#per game
Ashingtoon62
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:43 PM
Comment #171Mr Tuff
I bet Brighton’s on your bucket list of “Never”
a)The fear of being blown up!
b) Your homophobia could cause problems…
Ashingtoon62
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:46 PM
Comment #172I was kind of hoping that Chelsea might have fancied Eddie,then we could have sneaked in and bagged Potter..
I’m being serious by the way…
The Taco Taker
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:46 PM
Comment #173ESPO – that is very interesting and I vaguely recall reading something about KK wanting Lampard. I love KK for what he did as a player and his first stint as Manager but him returning was always a mistake in my view.
As Liverpool fan once said after Dalglish got the boot on his second stint as Manager of Lpool “you should never go back” although when that same fan was asked by the Sky jounalist “so who should replace Kenny” he replied “Rafa!!” – NOW THAT IS DELUSIONAL!
🙂
Sir Pugalot, the Dutch Bulldog
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:49 PM
Comment #174Taco, we support the Toon. THAT IS DELUSIONAL 🙂
The Taco Taker
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:52 PM
Comment #175Ha ha Pug!! – I had all the delusions knocked outta me as a kid. These days I am “cautiously optimistic”
🙂
Ashingtoon62
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:52 PM
Comment #176I suggest we have all our fixtures postponed during rail strikes,at least until we have all of our Purples fit..
There’s only one road in after all,if you ignore the A19 and the Tunnel of course
Tyran21
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:52 PM
Comment #177Not another deJong
That is whole EPL’s stats? Impressive, keep this up and top 6 is possible. Points still on track, as long as Newcastle get 6points off Forest, Bournemouth, Villa, Everton and Leicester. 4points off the rest. 1point off Man C, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham.
ToonDarnSarf
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:54 PM
Comment #178The Taco Taker – I loved KK the player and I loved the passion, energy, and entertainment that KK brought to the club the first time around. It’s what made me fall in love with the club. But…I’m afraid that I think KK was virtually a one-trick pony. Ok, that was a fantastic trick that it took Fergie a long time to figure out (just not quite long enough) but he was effectively very limited as a manager and made some very bad decisions (not closing out for the title win and scrapping our reserve team spring to mind).
The second time was truly a marriage made in hell. I get the impression that a stupidly naive Mike Ashley was trying to get the fans to love him by bringing back a Toon hero. Well, unlikely as it was to work second time around, it was made absolutely impossible by Ashley not backing KK in the same was as SJH did. Ended up being naive from both KK and Ashley to even try to make that work.
KK will always be a Toon legend but he should have stuck to the after dinner speaking by that point.
9
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:56 PM
Comment #179TDS
Of course I’m basing my evidence on 2022 results. Are you suggesting we should include our performances under Bruce? If so, you are clearly in a minority of 1. If not, then your point completely fails.
HWTL
The Taco Taker
Sep 7, 2022 at 6:59 PM
Comment #180I’d say that is a pretty accurate summary TDS
NY Mag
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:00 PM
Comment #181TDS,
A one trick pony is a bit harsh like……the guys an absolute legend.
Ashingtoon62
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:00 PM
Comment #182TDS
Keegan’s decision to scrap the reserves, should have been a red flag to Shepherd and Hall.
But tbf they were caught up in the groundswell of euphoria,just like us mere mortals..
Mister Tuff
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:06 PM
Comment #183I see Sam Fenders concert at SJP next June was sold out within an hour. Think the capacity is going to be 55,000. Which will be a record for him.
As a result of the high demand he is putting on another concert on the following day – June 10th. Probably be another sell out.
The Taco Taker
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:07 PM
Comment #184I dont think anyone is disputing KK being legend.
I think it would be fair to say he had his limitations as a manager and I suspect that not winning the title here actually played into that in terms of his subsequent career.
Ashingtoon62
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:09 PM
Comment #185NY Mag
Honestly- for me he was the right guy/right place.
I loved the footy and loved the positivity and I shudder to think,where we would be now if he hadn’t rocked up.
But as I have got aulder,I have seen lots of different views and evidence I suppose,I think we were very lucky…Lucky to have him and lucky to have survived him..
There’s a podcast somewhere in the ether,part of it shows SJH and Freddie discussing the Kegan problem…
Not another deJong
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:14 PM
Comment #186Tyran21
I saw we were top of the ‘Other 14’ for touches in the penalty area and wondered how we compared with the ‘top 6’…..Chelsea no where near.
It is wierd how the lack of form from Manu was the early PL news, for them now to be 5th, however below us in the stats!
Essex Geordie Bill
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:15 PM
Comment #187Mr Tuff
Nowt wrong with discussing Knitting patterns, I’m up for it!
Essex Geordie Bill
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:16 PM
Comment #188Carragher is correct, Potter to Chelsea would be a bade move, for Potter.
Tyran21
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:17 PM
Comment #189Not another deJong
These are good signs, need to maintain though. Goals and wins will follow after.
Essex Geordie Bill
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:17 PM
Comment #190We’d be well on course for a top 4 finish but for Injuries and the dodgy ref decisions.
Essex Geordie Bill
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:18 PM
Comment #191Or even a bad move!
Not another deJong
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:26 PM
Comment #192Certainly goes to show that attack is the best form of defence…all those top 5 stats for possession, but more draws than most other teams because we can’t score.
Sir Pugalot, the Dutch Bulldog
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:26 PM
Comment #193Surely Potter should go to Stoke, Makem bloke back to Dunderland and Bruce to Chelsea. could be happier than that outcome
The Taco Taker
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:27 PM
Comment #194EGB – As I point out @115 I dont think its is a bad move for Potter, assuming the owner ideas line up with his, if they do he has nothing to lose.
Sir Pugalot, the Dutch Bulldog
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:28 PM
Comment #195Even I do not dislike Chelsea that much but trying to help the Robins
NY Mag
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:36 PM
Comment #196Ash,
Right person, right time…..I feel much the same with Eddie at the moment.
Dean0
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:38 PM
Comment #197Disgraceful decision to sack Tuchel from Chelsea.
He got them to win the champions league against city in 20/21 season, had them 3rd last season, and they won 2 cups.
6th in the league.
1 defeat against Dynamo Zagreb and they sack him, unbelievable. id be absolutely fuming if was him or a Chelsea fan.
Who would you rather have, Eddie Howe or tuchel? ?
Ashingtoon62
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:41 PM
Comment #198Potter to Chelsea hmmm!!
Tactical genius to process driven moneybags club hmmm!!
Yet Spit the dog says no! sour grapes imho as he sees Klopp in meltdown,as he’s short of a couple of mids.. 😆
The Taco Taker
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:41 PM
Comment #199Deano, I will have Eddie Howe 100%
Essex Geordie Bill
Sep 7, 2022 at 7:41 PM
Comment #200TTT
Yeah, I suppose it might look like a good move for Potter, at worst he will get a good pay off if it goes pear shaped.
He has had to work for years to get Brighton to where they are, he won’t have that luxury at Chelsea.
Wonder if he’ll be after some of the Brighton players next window, assuming of course he gets the job.