Toon target "wowed" by St James' Park atmosphere as Newcastle prepare summer bid

James Maddison has been "wowed by the atmosphere" at St James' Park and impressed by our rise under Eddie Howe, according to CBS journalist and Leicester City fan Ben Jacobs.

He reports that Newcastle remain keen on 26-year-old, believing we have a "very realistic" chance of luring him to Tyneside at the end of the season.

This comes after Newcastle were heavily linked with a summer bid for the Foxes star last week, with The Telegraph revealing that he remains a key target of Eddie Howe's after we failed with two bids almost 12 months ago.

Maddison is approaching the final 12 months of his contract at Leicester and look certain to leave this summer, whether they manage to beat the drop or not.

Heres's what Jacobs told GiveMeSport when asked about the England international's future:

“I think that James Maddison has been at St. James’s Park and has been quite wowed by the atmosphere, the culture and Newcastle are flying, so they do stand a very realistic possibility (of signing him.

“I’ve always said many times, because Newcastle’s interest in Maddison dates back to last summer, it will only be this summer when Maddison goes. If Leicester go down, it will obviously be definite and there’ll be a tremendous deal to be had.

“But I think even if they stay up, I expect Maddison to leave Leicester regardless.”

Maddison's Leicester take on Liverpool tonight in a crucial game at both ends of the table, then travels to Tyneside a week today for our final home game of the 2022/23 season.