One man who knows what James Maddison can bring to a team is Gareth Southgate. The England manager gave the Leicester City midfielder his full England debut earlier this year.
The 26-year-old impressed with the way he took to life on the international stage, which will offer encouragement to Newcastle United should they manage to land one of their top targets. Having pushed to sign him last summer, it's believed Eddie Howe is keen to try and lure him to St James' Park once again.
Howe is not on his own, though. Tottenham and their new manager Ange Postecoglou are also believed to be willing to fight for his signature and it could well be one of the transfer battles of the summer.
With Newcastle looking to make an impression on the European scene next season having qualified for the Champions League, Howe needs players who can handle the big occasion and be comfortable against elite-level opposition. One look at Maddison's full England debut from March this year shows he is more than capable of playing on the bigger stage.
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Maddison's moment came in the 2-0 Euro 2024 Qualifying Group win over Ukraine at Wembley in a midfield that also included Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham. He enjoyed a good 85 minutes before making way for Jack Grealish.
He was rated as England's second-best player that day, behind Bukayo Saka, who set up the opening goal before scoring the second. Maddison had an 89% pass success rate and completed two dribbles, while also having three shots at Anatolii Trubin's goal.
That Maddison took to the international scene with such ease did not come as a surprise to the England boss. It also offers an intriguing insight into what he can bring to Newcastle, should Howe land his man at the second attempt.
"We were always going to start James Maddison," Southgate said. "He's been playing really well for his club so we had no doubt he would fit in.
"His use of the ball was excellent. We wanted James to start on the left as a reference, nothing else, he wants to come and drift in and he found those spaces really well.
"I thought he had a super game, it didn’t surprise me because he’s got the personality to play that way. We thought it was a good game to see him.
"It was a good level opponent, so it wasn’t just a game you weren’t going to learn anything about him, it was defensively really solid for him."
