Newcastle United are refusing to give up on Leicester City star James Maddison as the Magpies attempt to take advantage of the Foxes' logjam.
Newcastle had a £40m offer turned down over the weekend but Eddie Howe's side have since returned with an improved bid worth up to £50m including add-ons. Leicester value Maddison closer to £60m but, tellingly, Newcastle have not been deterred in returning to the table with a package that would break the club's transfer record.
Newcastle have received sufficient encouragement from Maddison's camp to pursue the move at a time when Leicester could do with a cash injection - no matter how keen Brendan Rodgers is to keep the attacking midfielder. Leicester, after all, are the only Premier League club yet to sign a player this summer with just a few days to go until the start of the new season and the Foxes are struggling to offload fringe players on high wages.
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Leicester have previously funded recruitment drives by letting N'Golo Kante (Chelsea, 2016), Danny Drinkwater (Chelsea, 2017), Riyad Mahrez (Man City, 2018), Harry Maguire (Manchester United, 2019) and Ben Chilwell (Chelsea, 2020) all go over the years and the Foxes must decide whether to do likewise with Maddison. Maddison only has two years left on his contract and, although the England international is settled in the area, Leicester could risk losing him for a cut-price fee next year if he does not sign a new deal.
Newcastle, sensing an opportunity, have tested the waters at a time when Leicester's wage bill has risen to nearly £159m and the Foxes' salary to turnover ratio was an eye-watering 85% in the club's most recent accounts. Although Leicester are traditionally smart buyers, Rodgers' side got more signings wrong than right last summer, which has contributed to the logjam Newcastle are trying to capitalise on.
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