The Bayer Leverkusen forward has been heavily linked with a summer move to the northeast in recent months.
Newcastle United’s deal to sign Bayer Leverkusen forward Moussa Diaby is currently “not advanced”, according to Sky Sports reporter Florian Plettenberg.
Is Moussa Diaby leaving Bayer Leverkusen?
The France international still has another two years remaining on his contract in the Bundesliga, but having established himself as Xabi Alonso’s top-performing offensive player and third overall with a WhoScored match rating of 7.10, he’s been attracting interest from Eddie Howe at St James’ Park – though not for the first time.
SportBILD has reported that the Magpies looked to strike a deal for the 23-year-old back in January, but at the time, the BayArena outfit weren’t willing to sanction his exit – though that hasn’t stopped Howe from wanting to take a second bite of the cherry.
Football Insider claims that the north-east boss has instructed sporting director Dan Ashworth to sign the right-winger, with Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano also revealing that they have already sent scouts to watch him live, but a significant update has now emerged on a potential switch to the Premier League.
Are Newcastle signing Diaby?
Taking to Twitter, Plettenberg revealed that Newcastle do hold an interest in Diaby but, made it clear that nothing is expected to come to fruition during the upcoming summer window. He wrote:
“News He‘s on the list of @NUFC but understand that it was not advanced in the last months. @ManUtd is monitoring his situation instead and confirmed. Next steps depend on the club‘s ownership. #MUFC Bayer‘s price valuation between €70-80m [£60-69m]. Contract until 2025. Key player for Alonso.”
Newcastle are clearly long-term admirers of Diaby having attempted to sign him in January, and whilst the price tag may be out of range for PIF considering the strict Financial Fair Play regulations the club will have to be wary of this summer, they are potentially making a huge mistake by not even testing the waters to see if an agreement could be reached.
The Champions League participant has clocked up 18 goal contributions (nine goals and assists apiece) in 32 Bundesliga appearances this season, but even if he’s not always on the scoresheet, the attacker is constantly looking to produce moments of quality in the final third.
The Paris native has recorded 109 shot-creating actions, 94 crosses and 76 shots since the start of the current campaign, ranking highest in this team in all three of these areas, as per FBRef – so this, alongside the fact he has the versatility to operate in seven various positions means that he’s surely a player worth making another approach for ahead of the new term.
