Newcastle United are in a glorious position in the Premier League, perched above expectations in third place after 17 matches played and yielding a cohesive and gelled collective force, under the tutelage of Eddie Howe.
One star that could unite the team and provide the creative flair needed to truly cement the club’s position among the elite of the English top-flight is Leicester City‘s James Maddison, who has been touted for a departure from the King Power Stadium.
According to reports stemming from earlier in the season, Howe is expected to distinguish Maddison as his number-one priority for the current winter transfer window, but with the maestro in lightning-hot form for the Foxes, prising him away from his side’s clutches might be difficult with the towering summer valuation of £60m perhaps still withstanding.
And now, speaking to GIVEMESPORT, transfer insider Dean Jones has stated that a switch for the Englishman would be something that “he would consider”, given the appeal to the Newcastle project.
Fernandes 2.0
Howe will indeed be delighted by his side’s start to the 2022/23 season, with the prolonged purple patch now teetering on a sustained vein of brilliance; pumping life into St. James’s Park, the Magpies manager has spearheaded an ascension to the top of the country’s pool of outfits, capable of challenging across multiple fronts.
Despite this, Newcastle are not the finished article, and with technical director Dan Ashworth pulling the strings on a few signings of genuine star quality, dappled across the field in star-studded boots, would go a long way towards strengthening the iron-clad resolve and resilience that is partnering the ever-increasing quality and confidence.
Maddison can be that man, and his tally of seven goals and four assists from just 13 Premier League fixtures this season is evidence of his clinical prowess that can lift Howe’s unit to new heights.
Signing for Leicester from Norwich City for roughly £20m in 2018, Maddison has since scored 52 goals and served 36 assists for the club, notably winning the FA Cup in 2020/21 and the FA Community Shield in the following campaign’s curtain-raiser.
The 26-year-old’s presence would be similar to Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, who made an emphatic start to life at the Theatre of Dreams following a £47m deal from Portuguese outfit Sporting Lisbon in January 2020.
His eight goals and seven assists from just 14 Premier League outings over the latter stage of the 2019/20 campaign commenced a formidable ongoing career at Old Trafford, where the destructive playmaker has now scored 53 times and registered 43 assists from only 149 appearances in true Maddison-esque goalscoring fashion.
Like Fernandes, Maddison is truly “world-class“, as once hailed by Dean Saunders, and with the Foxes phenom ranking within the top 6% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top leagues for goals, and the top 12% for assists, as per FBref, his innate ability to sniff out goal involvements will unlock the door to lift Newcastle towards a delicious taste of major silverware once again.
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