James Maddison drops 'hint' over Leicester City future amid Newcastle United interest

Newcastle United target James Maddison drops potential hint over Leicester City future

Newcastle United transfer target James Maddison has been in fine form despite Leicester City’s difficult start to the Premier League season.

The 25-year-old grabbed two goals and an assist in The Foxes’ 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Monday night as they secured their first win of the campaign at the eighth attempt.

Maddison has contributed with five goals and two assists in just seven Premier League appearances so far this season.

Newcastle saw two bids rejected by Leicester for the attacking-midfielder over the summer but have not given up hope of reaching an agreement in January.

The Foxes were understood to be holding out for £60million for Maddison in the summer, but his positive start to the season may make them consider raising their asking price further.

Maddison’s brace against Forest saw him reach the 50 goal milestone for Leicester in 179 appearances.

And when asked about his achievement, the player inadvertently appeared to commit his future to the club.

He said: "Yeah, I didn't know that until you told me! That's a nice stat, yeah; I didn't know that, obviously, 50 goals is a great landmark to hit, and onto the next 50 now!"

While Maddison targeting his ‘next 50’ goals for Leicester is just a light-hearted comment, it’s still one that implies his intention to remain at the club for the foreseeable future.

PSG boss reacts to Hugo Ekitike criticism following summer move

After snubbing a move to Newcastle United in the summer, Hugo Ekitike’s time at Paris Saint-Germain has been a challenge for the young forward.

The 20-year-old’s attitude and maturity have already been called into question as he had to wait to make his first competitive start for the club.

Having been limited to substitute cameos, Ekitike was finally handed his full PSG debut by manager Christophe Galtier against Nice on Saturday.

Ekitike lined-up alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar in attack at Parc des Princes. Messi gave the hosts a 1-0 lead at half-time before Gaetan Laborde equalised for Nice shortly after the restart.

Ekitike was then replaced by Kylian Mbappe just before the hour mark, a player who would go on to score a late winner as the match ended 2-1.

“It was important for me to get him started with players like Ney and Leo,” Galtier said. “It was his first tenure.

“Obviously he does not have the benchmarks and the technical relationship that other players may have. Of course, we take Kylian as a reference.

“But on what I asked him, he was very good. He made a lot of effort. He was also quite good technically.”

Galtier then offered some constructive criticism aimed at Ekitike as he added: “I simply asked him at the break to be a little more present in the penalty area because, as much between the lines, he is good but he must also be very present in the penalty area.

“He was there but a few times not when we had interesting situations. He put in a lot of effort, he had played very little until now.”