Newcastle launch second bid for James Maddison & believe player wants to sign - The Telegraph

According to The Telegraph's Luke Edwards, Newcastle United have launched a new improved bid for Leicester City's James Maddison.

He reveals that our second bid is 'in excess of £45m', with this coming after the Foxed rejected our initial offer of £40m last week.

The payments would be staggered - suggesting we've not offered the big upfront fee Leicester are said to prefer - so it remains to be seen how they'll respond after reports stated they valued the player at around £50-£60m.

Interestingly, Newcastle have been 'led to believe Maddison wants the move', with The Mail's Craig Hope reporting earlier today that we've 'received encouragement' that the player would like to seal a summer move to St James' Park.

It remains to be seen how Leicester will respond to our new improved offer, as some believe they'll not only demand north of £50m but also a bigger initial payment to help them with new signings over the final month of the transfer window. We shall see!