Newcastle United to rival Manchester City for signing of Premier League midfielder

Manchester City could find themselves eight points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal by the time they play Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon. 

The reigning champions currently sit five points behind The Gunners, who have the chance to extend their advantage when they face Brentford on Saturday.

The Citizens have struggled so far this season, already losing more games in the league than they did throughout the entirety of last season.

Despite their inconsistency this term, City still have to play Arsenal both home and away and few would rule Pep Guardiola’s side out of the title race just yet.

In the meantime, City look set to be rivalled by Newcastle United for the signing of a Premier League midfielder.

According to The Northern Echo, The Magpies are set to battle it out with City for the signature of Leicester City’s James Maddison.

The England international was the subject of an offer from Newcastle last summer which was rejected, before Newcastle once again enquired about his availability last month, the report claims.

Maddison, 26, has been in superb form this season, although he has missed a number of weeks after sustaining an injury that kept him out of action at the World Cup in Qatar.

Maddison looks unlikely to extend his stay with Leicester City

The midfielder has scored eight goals and provided four assists in 15 Premier League games for The Foxes this term, and it appears that his form hasn’t gone unnoticed.

The player has recently entered into the final 18 months of his contract and has so far given very little indication that he will extend his deal.

Newcastle, who were previously willing to pay around £40 million for Maddison, are hoping to take advantage of the situation.

The Magpies failed to sign a central midfielder last month despite their best efforts, while Manchester City face losing Ilkay Gundogan when his contract expires at the end of the season.

They could also be persuaded into letting Bernardo Silva leave, with the Portugal international having requested to leave twice in the past two years.

That would leave City short of midfield options, and they could therefore make a move to rival Newcastle.

Since joining Leicester from Norwich City in 2018, Maddison has scored 53 goals and provided 36 assists in 188 games across all competitions.