Newcastle have improved their opening offer for James Maddison with a second bid of £50m for the Leicester midfielder.
Eddie Howe’s side saw an opening bid of £40m turned down by the Foxes, but have now returned with an increased club-record proposal.
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The bid exceeds the record fee Newcastle paid to sign Joelinton from Hoffeinheim in 2019, though – according to Sky Sports – falls short of Leicester’s valuation believed to be in the region of £60m.
Brendan Rodgers dismissed Newcastle’s opening offer for Maddison at the weekend and claimed their initial proposal ‘might just cover three-quarters of his left leg’.
“He’s still very much a player here. You see his performance, you see how happy he is and he’s not a player we want to sell,” Rodgers told BBC Radio Leicester following the Foxes’ 1-0 friendly win over Sevilla on Sunday.
“It’s not for me to put valuations on the players, it’s not my side, but that might just cover three-quarters of his left leg, that price. He’s a top player.”
Maddison – who has earned one cap for England – was named as Leicester’s Player of the Season following an impressive 2021/22 campaign. The midfielder scored 18 goals in all competitions, the highest return of his career to date, and provided a further 12 assists.
The 25-year-old has made 171 appearances for Leicester since joining the club from Norwich in 2018.
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