Alongside Maddison: Newcastle chiefs like 14-assist speedster who Klopp called 'unbelievable'

Newcastle United may struggle to meet Leicester City’s demands for Harvey Barnes, The Athletic’s Chris Waugh says. 

Newcastle are currently pursuing Barnes’ Leicester team-mate, James Maddison, but it’s proving to be tricky.

The Magpies submitted a second bid worth £40million plus add-ons for the attacking midfielder, but Leicester are said to want closer to £60million.

Barnes, 24, is under contract at The King Power Stadium until June 2025, having signed a new deal at the start of last season.

Waugh writes that Barnes ‘has admirers’ within the Newcastle United recruitment operation.

However, as in the case of Maddison, ‘it is difficult to envisage how Newcastle can present a financial package that would tempt Leicester to sell’.

Newcastle clearly still want a wide player in the transfer window, hence their reported bid for Jack Harrison.

And it’s easy to see why they’re interested in Barnes, who scored 11 goals and provided 14 assists in all competitions last season.

He’s also earned the endorsement of a Premier League-winning manager in Jurgen Klopp, who called him ‘an unbelievable player‘.

The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope, meanwhile, feels it would be a ‘tremendous’ coup for Newcastle.

But if Leicester want £60million for Maddison, they’re surely likely to slap a similar price tag on Barnes.

Indeed, the CIES Football Observatory reckon that the winger is worth somewhere between €50million (£41.9million) and €70million (£58.7million).

Source