Journalist Dean Jones has questioned the validity of the reports doing the rounds that suggest Tottenham Hotspur are now the firm favourite to land James Maddison in the summer.
Over the last week and a half, multiple outlets have suggested that the Lilywhites are now the front-runners for Maddison.
The Telegraph were the first to make that claim last week, suggesting that Tottenham have moved ahead of the competition for the attacking midfielder, who was said to be valued by Leicester at £50m.
This was subsequently backed up by The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope, who told Sky Sports News’ Hold the Back Page segment (5/4/23 – 22:35) that the England international is far likelier to end up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium than he is at St James’ Park this summer.
The latest such update came from Football Insider, who claimed on Sunday that Spurs will not even wait until they appoint a new manager before making a move for the Leicester star as they do not want to risk losing their lead.
However, Jones has now suggested that these outlets might be jumping the gun, questioning why Maddison would agree to the move to Tottenham without knowing which manager he would be playing for.
Reacting to the aforementioned reports, the journalist told GiveMeSport: “I find it strange.
“I think it’s jumping the gun a little bit to say Spurs are the favourites to sign Maddison.
“They don’t currently have a manager, they don’t currently have an identity, they don’t have any promise of Champions League football.
“In the background, Newcastle are still interested and from what we can see right now, they have a better foundation for the project they’re building and the ambitions that they have in the coming years.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The fact that so many independent sources reported the same information suggests that they should have heard something on the matter from the player’s end.
However, there is no doubt that the midfielder would want to wait and see which club could offer him Champions League football.
I am not overly optimistic about our chances of beating Newcastle to the 26-year-old’s signature if we fail to finish in the top four.
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