James Maddison remains a key target for Newcastle United, but they are prepared to wait until the summer to sign him.
According to Luke Edwards, the Northern Football Writer for the Daily Telegraph, the club hierarchy believe that the deal will be too difficult and expensive to complete in January.
Maddison has been in the best form of his career over the last year or so, contributing 19 goals and 12 assists in the Premier League since the start of last season.
As a result, plenty of clubs have expressed an interest in the Leicester City midfielder, including Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
Newcastle have been persistently linked with Maddison following their takeover by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
The new owners have provided considerable support to Eddie Howe in the transfer market, recruiting the likes of Chris Wood, Kieran Trippier and Alexander Isak.
The Magpies sit third in the Premier League table with a realistic chance of qualifying for the Champions League having lost just once this season.
Adding Maddison into the mix would clearly strengthen their attack but Leicester will demand a sizeable fee for the 26-year-old, who is valued at around £50million.
He is under contract with the Foxes until June 2024 and they would prefer to hold onto him for the rest of the season to ensure they remain clear of relegation trouble.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have recovered after a slow start, winning four of their last five league games, but are still just four points above the bottom three.
Maddison has been one of the division’s outstanding creative forces, sparking a clamour for him to be recalled to the England squad.
He won his first, and so far only, cap in a European Championship qualifier against Montenegro but did enough to convince Gareth Southgate that he deserved a place at the World Cup.
