Ange Postecoglou has been dealt a transfer blow in his pursuit of Leicester midfielder James Maddison, with the midfielder currently on international duty with England.
The £60m rated star is set to exit the Foxes this summer after they were relegated from the Premier League.
Since then Maddison has been linked with Postecoglou's Tottenham as well as Newcastle United.
Leicester City valued their star man at £50million last season and with a year left on his deal they could look for nearer £60million this window.
Reports yesterday suggested that Spurs had launched a £50million double bid for Maddison and Harvey Barnes. But this morning transfer guru Fabrizio Romano rubbished the story.
He explained: "Understand Tottenham have not sent any official proposal for Harvey Barnes and James Maddison — would make no sense to submit joint bid for £50m, no chance.
"Spurs are working on both Maddison and Barnes deal but reports of bid are described as ‘wide of mark’."
With Leicester relegated from the Premier League and the pair contributing 23 goals and 10 assists over the course of the season, they are very much in demand.
Maddison was training alongside Newcastle frontman Callum Wilson today and his teammate was quick to share where he thinks the playmaker should head this summer on his Instagram.
He shared a photo of the pair with Wilson grappling Maddison alongside the caption: "Newcastle is this way." Maddison has not shared the post on his story in response.
Looking ahead to a busy pre-season at Spurs, Postecoglou said: "Yeah, it's vital, particularly I think with a new manager coming in, myself coming in, and that gives me the time with the players and there will be new staff in as well, where we could all sort of begin to embed the kind of values and football we want to play.
"Also we get to spend a lot of time together, which I think is a good thing because as much as anything else, we get to know each other as people. So it's vital to our season ahead."
Meanwhile, Celtic appear close to securing the services of Brendan Rodgers for a second time after pushing the boat out to bring their former manager back as Postecoglou’s successor.
The Hoops have been on the hunt for a new boss since the Australian sealed his move to Tottenham last Tuesday.
After being linked with Manchester City assistant Enzo Maresca, Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen and West Ham manager David Moyes, among others, the Celtic board have now homed in on Rodgers, with whom they met in Majorca last weekend to initiate discussions.
The Northern Irishman left Celtic to take over at Leicester almost four and a half years ago, but he now appears set for a return to the club at which he won all seven domestic trophies available to him while laying the foundations for a remarkable quadruple-treble that was completed by his successor Neil Lennon.
