Tottenham Hotspur are believed to have moved ahead in the race to sign Leicester City midfielder, James Maddison, with the playmaker looking set to leave his current home this summer.

What's the latest on Maddison to Tottenham?

That's according to journalist Scott Wilson, who revealed that the Lilywhites have nudged in front of Newcastle United in the battle to land the 26-year-old, with the England international said to favour a move to north London ahead of making the switch to St James' Park.

Writing on Twitter on Monday, the transfer insider stated: "Tottenham ahead of #NUFC in the battle to sign James Maddison – with the Leicester midfielder preferring a move to London to a switch to the North-East. Suspect things might move fairly quickly once tonight's England game is out of the way…"

In his attached piece for the Northern Echo, Wilson went on to add that Spurs are seemingly ready to offer a more 'lucrative' salary in order to tempt the Coventry-born gem into making a move, with the player set to cost in the region of £50m with only 12 months left on his current contract.

Would Maddison be a good signing for Tottenham?

Despite the overall disappointment of slipping to relegation at the King Power Stadium, Maddison did enjoy a standout 2022/23 campaign on an individual basis after chipping in with ten goals and nine assists in just 30 Premier League games, taking his total tally for the Foxes to 96 goal involvements in only 203 outings across all fronts.

While the highly-rated "baller" – as described by The Athletic's Carl Anka – is likely to operate in an attacking midfield role in Ange Postecoglou's preferred 4-3-3 formation at N17, the £110k-per-week man has also been utilised in a wide berth in recent times, scoring three goals and registering four assists in seven outings as a right winger last season, as per Transfermarkt.

The former Norwich City man's quality on the flanks is also illustrated by his statistical likeness to his compatriot, Bukayo Saka, as he boasts an 89.4% similarity to the Arsenal wizard – according to Opta's Player Radars – with that seemingly making the 21-year-old the closest match to the Leicester ace.

That comparison can be seen by the fact that the latter man ranks in the top 4% for goals, while Saka ranks in the top 3% in that regard, with the pair also alike due to their creative quality, as Maddison ranks in the top 6% for chances created, while the Gunners dynamo ranks in the top 12% for that same metric – as per Opta.

That likeness to Saka is particularly noteworthy amid the youngster's recent standout display for the Three Lions against North Macedonia on Monday evening, with the fleet-footed gem bagging a hat-trick in that thumping 7-0 win at Old Trafford.

Such a stellar performance followed what was a largely standout season for the 5 foot 10 speedster as he registered 14 goals and 11 assists in the top flight as part of Mikel Arteta's ultimately failed title challenge, having been lauded as "exceptional" by national team boss, Gareth Southgate.

For Postecoglou to be able to land his own version of Saka with the signing of Maddison could prove to be a particularly special piece of business, with the hope being that the three-cap menace can prove just as influential in north London as his international colleague.