Would-be Diaby Bayers are warned off
BAYER Leverkusen insist that they want France international winger Moussa Diaby to stay for ‘as long as possible’, despite interest from Newcastle United.
The 22-year-old is known to be someone the Magpies are keen on recruiting, with his current price tag set at around £50m.
And now Leverkusen director of sport Simon Rolfes has made it clear the club will try to resist any bids for their star man this summer, instead wanting to keep him to bolster their Champions League hopes.
The French attacker enjoyed another strong season with Leverkusen last season, netting 17 goals as well as laying on a further 14 assists, as Gerardo Seoane’s side ensured qualification for the group stages of Europe’s top club competition.
Departing Ligue 1 giants Paris St Germain back in 2019 for £13m, the forward has certainly found a home in Germany, beginning to flourish at the BayArena.
Now, with the player said to be keen on a salary increase heading into the 2022/23 campaign, Rolfes has confirmed the club have no plans to allow the French dynamo to leave this summer.
The former Germany international said: “We want to keep Moussa for as long as possible. I know a lot of scouts have been sitting in our stand during our matches because we have a lot of interesting, exciting young players with high potential.
“It is always the same, we do not have any offers for him but we are not looking for that at the moment.
“We would like to keep him and for him to play with us next season in the Champions League.”
Newcastle are keen to bolster their wide options despite already having Allan Saint-Maximin, Ryan Fraser, Jacob Murphy and Miguel Almiron on their books.