Leicester City's James Maddison remains heavily linked with a move to big-spending Newcastle United.
But a big-money move this summer will not only benefit his current employers. Norwich City, the side who sold Maddison to the Foxes four years ago, also stand to secure a serious windfall should a deal materialise.
Reports suggest Newcastle have bid £50million for the 25-year-old, with Leicester said to be holding out for closer to £60m. If the latter proves to be the amount the Magpies fork out then it will mean a bumper payday for Norwich. The Canaries, upon thrashing out negotiations to sell Maddison back in 2018, inserted a series of clauses into the deal.
One was to include a 15 per cent sell-on fee of any future profit. Given that Maddison arrived at the King Power Stadium for £24m, a sale to Newcastle for £60m would represent a profit of £36m. When you calculate Norwich's slice, it amounts to a plush £5.4m boost to the Championship club's coffers.
Maddison has enjoyed a fine few seasons at Leicester. Last term saw him register a career-best output in the Premier League with 12 goals and eight assists. Additionally, only Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne created more chances in the competition.
Foxes' chief Brendan Rodgers recently declared Maddison was not for sale and he would be loathe to lose another star after the recent departure of long-serving club legend Kasper Schmeichel.
"There is obviously, within the club, a financial situation which isn't ideal in terms of wanting to do business. It doesn't mean we will be exploited and we don't want to be losing our best players," said Rodgers.
“With James, he is looking the best he has in my time here. His level of confidence, physicality and a player of that talent – there will be interest. He is a joy to work with. I love him as a young guy, seeing him grow from when I first came in to a 25-year-old father; seeing him change in life and his football life. He is really pivotal to us. There is no way I would want to sell him.”
Despite his fine form Maddison, to the surprise of many, has just a solitary senior England cap to his name. A big move to Newcastle with just a few months until this winter's World Cup could well propel him into the Three Lions picture as Gareth Southgate looks to finalise his squad.
Speaking earlier this year about his international ambitions, he told Soccer Bible : "I make no hidden thing about it that I want to play for England again.
"I made my debut in late 2019, and I’m just hungry to do well and put myself in that bracket, in the manager’s thoughts. I know it’s tough competition – we’ve got some great players – but I believe that I can play at that level."
