Journalist tells Sky Sports News that Newcastle target now looks likely to sign elsewhere

There's some conflicting information emerging on James Maddison's future as he prepares to leave Leicester City this summer.

Speaking on Sky Sports News after last night's 5-1 win over West Ham, The Mail's Craig Hope was asked for an update on the England international, where he said this:

"Newcastle United made a move for James Madison last year. They were serious about that. But at the time the noises coming back to us were that Madison would prefer move to London. So spurs emerging as the front runners isn't a surprise.

"I can see why Newcastle made him a priority when they when they did a few months back, but we don't expect that to happen for Newcastle now - mainly because, like I said, the noises coming back to us are that Madison will be going south."

This comes just a few days after Football Insider reported that we were now in 'pole position' to sign the 26-year-old, so it's hard to know what to believe.

In one sense, you'd expect us to be favourites if we beat Spurs to a top-four finish and Champions League football - something that's believed to be important to Maddison. However, I also wonder if we didn't make another bid in January because we felt he had his heart set on a move to London?

Time will tell, but it'll be intriguing to see how this one plays out if we do finish above Spurs and his loss if he prefers the capital over this exciting project at St James' Park.