It’s been a busy day at The Telegraph, who’ve not only linked us with moves for several relegated gems but also issued updates on Harvey Barnes and James Maddison; the Leicester pair being looked at by Eddie Howe.
Starting with Maddison, John Percy – The Telegraph’s man in the Midlands – claims that new Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has backed their pursuit of James Maddison, making him a ‘priority target’ for the North London side this summer.
Tottenham look set to launch a bid for the 26-year-old, but have been informed that it will take ‘in excess of £50m’ to sign the England international; despite the fact he’s out of contract in 12 months time.
Elsewhere, West Ham are ‘leading the race’ to sign Foxes teammate Harvey Barnes. The Telegraph’s Matt Law reports that Newcastle, Aston Villa and Spurs are also keen on the winger, but the Hammers are now in pole position after sealing Europa League qualification via last night’s Europa Conference League win.
Barnes is valued at £40m by Leicester, yet the Irons are expected to pursue a cut-price deal following their relegation, with an offer in the region of £30m expected to kick off the bidding.
I’d suggest Barnes is further down the list of Newcastle targets if West Ham are leading the race – no offence, but you’d expect him to favour Champions League football if we were hellbent on signing him. As for Maddison, it’s clear Howe is a huge fan, so we’ll have to hope our top-four finish and the financial boost that came with that gives us the edge on Tottenham.
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WOKORACH ALFRED(Quote)
When you look at Liverpool getting agreements in place quickly, we are either not interested in half of these players being touted or we are too slow off the mark.
I think we will probably bring in one marquee signing and the rest will be players we haven’t heard of and that Eddie Howe can improve/develop.
Joseph(Quote)