Eddie Howe and Newcastle United are putting together one of the strongest teams in the club’s history at this moment in time. They’ve already brought the likes of Bruno Guimaras, Alexander Isak and Sven Botman on board – but they have yet to sign a truly top class attacking midfielder.

Enter James Maddison. The 26-year-old has been sensational for Leicester City for a considerable amount of time now – he was unlucky to miss out on actually playing in Qatar after being selected as part of England’s 2022 World Cup squad but an injury sustained just prior to the tournament scuppered his chances.

Newcastle have been linked with Maddison previously – they were reported to have submitted two separate bids for him in the summer of 2022, but both offers were turned down.

This season, Maddison has scored nine goals and notched up five assists in 17 Premier League games for Leicester. Additionally, he’s also the Foxes’ top goalscorer this season.

Leicester haven’t been enjoying the best of seasons – at one point, they were tipped for relegation, but have since climbed to safety. Interestingly, they have struggled mainly when Maddison isn’t in the team – recently while he was out injured, the Foxes lost four games on the bounce – as soon as he began starting again, Leicester started winning again.

Maddison is integral to Leicester’s success – without him, Brendan Rodgers’ team will likely struggle. As such, they will most probably fight tooth and nail to keep hold of him. Whether other sides like Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United end up targeting him remains to be seen but Liverpool seem like the most obvious other suitors given their need to reinforce their midfield options.

With his contract up in the summer of 2024, Leicester have a tough decision to make. Do they let Maddison have as much money as he wants to stay – or do they cut their losses to avoid losing him on a free? Newcastle will be hoping to snap him up before his contract expires, but it may cost the Magpies a premium fee.