Tottenham Hotspur know the competition to bring the best players to north London is only getting tougher.
The emergence of Newcastle as a potential Champions League side, plus many of their rivals eyeing up takeovers could be a problem.
With Chelsea now in a bullish mood in the transfer market, and Liverpool and Manchester United both reportedly available, Spurs could struggle to keep up.
Antonio Conte has already been demanding in the transfer market since arriving at Spurs.
His business appears to have paid off, with a number of his key targets like Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski having a big impact.
Another name that’s been linked with plenty of top clubs this season is James Maddison.
The £60m-rated playmaker is currently away with England after forcing his way into Gareth Southgate’s squad.
Maddison has been linked with a move from Leicester City as the player has European ambitions.
However, Jacobs now reports that Maddison could stall on a move as he wants to guarantee Champions League football.
Additionally, Leicester haven’t completely ruled out the 26-year-old signing a new deal at the King Power Stadium.
Maddison could stall on move over Champions League
Jacobs provided an update on Maddison’s potential move and said: “Sources told me that Maddison would rather wait until the end of the season and Leicester are not ruling out a new deal either.
“But from Maddison’s point of view, the reason why he would rather wait is because he wants to know what he’s getting.
Right now, if London’s the preference, and Tottenham and or, more loosely, Chelsea are looking at him, neither of those two clubs can categorically guarantee that they’re heading towards Champions League football for sure next season.
“Newcastle are in a better form position, but again, who knows whether they’re going to get over the line and get Champions League football.”
Tottenham currently sit fourth in the Premier League, with a three-point gap to Manchester United.
With more than half of the season still to play, it’s understandable why Maddison could stall on a move away from Leicester.
However, Tottenham have been linked with the 26-year-old for a while now, and have a superior recent history of reaching Europe’s top competition.
It’s hard to see how Leicester convince him to stay at the club at this point.
They’ll at least be encouraged that a bidding war could end up breaking out to decide Maddison’s future.
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