James Maddison has admitted that it is 'time for a break with family and friends' as Leicester City stand firm - despite the Newcastle United transfer target entering the final year of his contract.
A lengthy campaign finally came to an end for Maddison on Monday night after England's 7-0 Euro qualifier win against North Macedonia at Old Trafford. Maddison has now been given additional time off by relegated Leicester, whose non-internationals will reconvene for the first day of pre-season training on July 3.
Although there is no chance of Maddison playing in the Championship next season, Leicester have never been rushed into selling key players. In fact, Leicester even held out until the penultimate day of last summer's window to let Wesley Fofana go to Chelsea despite the Foxes' need for funds to refresh a stale squad.
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When it comes to Maddison, there are, perhaps, one or two parallels with Newcastle's pursuit of another long-term target, Sven Botman, last year when Lille had a higher asking price in mind compared to the Magpies. A compromise was eventually reached with Lille and Botman cut short his holiday in Mallorca to complete a move to Newcastle before the end of June.
Twelve months on, Maddison has also flown to a Balearic island, Ibiza, as Newcastle and Spurs battle it out for the 26-year-old.
"Long season done," Maddison posted. "Time for a break with family and friends."
Both Newcastle and Spurs know that Maddison is just a relatively short flight away if they manage to reach a breakthrough with Leicester, who are asking for more than £50m - even though the attacking midfielder is out of contract next summer.
