Newcastle ‘will launch fresh attempts to sign James Maddison’ after having bids rejected last summer

Newcastle will reportedly launch further attempts to sign Leicester midfielder James Maddison in the summer.

The Magpies made two offers, worth £35m and £40m, for the England star last summer, but their offers came nowhere close to matching Leicester’s valuation of around £60m.

And while the Saudi-backed club have been happy to spend, Eddie Howe’s side will face stiff competition from Manchester City, as Sportsmail revealed last week.

The champions, who have been charged by the Premier League for alleged breaches of financial rules, will need to be active before next season, with the future of Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva up in the air.

Maddison has less than 18 months left on his £100,000 a week contract with the Foxes and is yet to sign a new deal.

Newcastle will reportedly launch further attempts to sign Leicester midfielder James Maddison

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has admitted the club are light in the middle of the park after failing to buy a midfielder in January.

Uncertainty surrounding Maddison’s future has prompted Newcastle to renew their attempts to sign the highly-rated attacking midfielder at the end of the season, according to the Echo of the North.

The midfielder, who has just returned from injury, has eight in 15 league games this season after contributing a creditable 12 last year.

But it is increasingly unlikely that Leicester will be able to retain Maddison in the summer, even if they avoid relegation.

Newcastle have shown a willingness to be patient in the past, securing both Sven Botman and Anthony Gordon after previous failed attempts.

Eddie Howe is keen to recruit in central midfield after failing to find one in the January market.

Newcastle were unable to bring in the likes of Conor Gallagher from Chelsea and Scott McTominay from Manchester United and with the sale of Jonjo Shelvey, they were left with just four central midfielders.

Howe said last week that “I don’t think this window has been perfect for us,” admitting on Friday: “Losing Jonjo has been a concern for us.” We have had many internal discussions.

“We were active on the market, but we couldn’t get a midfielder to cross the line.”

Newcastle will face competition from Man City for Maddison as Pep Guardiola looks to renew his squad