In his latest piece for iNews, Mark Douglas has been discussing the transfer trend on Tyneside that could see James Maddison finally sign this summer, with the club already identifying the Leicester City star as our next big target.
He reports that there has been a ‘clear blueprint’ in the last two transfer windows – we’ve identified key targets early and refused to give up until our top targets are signed.
Sven Botman was targeted last January. We made bids and the Dutchman remained at Lille, but we returned in the summer and finally got our man. The same was true of Gordon, as summer interest was followed by him signing at St James’ Park in January.
Next up, James Maddison? After a series of bids over the summer, Douglas reports that we took a calculated risk not pursuing the Premier League playmaker last month, knowing he could be available for a cut-price fee in a few months time now he’s approaching the final 12 months of his contract.
He’s remained with the Foxes – who seemed intent on keeping their key players after being sucked into a relegation battle – but a summer exit seems inevitable and Leicester’s last chance to get a decent fee for the 26-year-old.
It would also suit us from an FFP perspective, with the bulk of our spending in 2023 expected to come at the end of the 2022/23 season – where we may have secured new sponsorship deals and European football?
Here’s a snippet from Mark Douglas’ piece, revealing the blueprint set on incomings and that Maddison is the next key target already being lined up:
‘There is a clear blueprint being followed here: when Newcastle couldn’t extract Botman from Lille last January they returned in the summer. They missed Gordon in the summer but signed him on Sunday, a move Howe could hardly conceal his glee about.
‘James Maddison, coming into the last year of his contract in the summer, is the next player Newcastle will set their sights on, having calculated a move from Leicester was unlikely this month.‘
