Newcastle United have had a long-standing interest in Moussa Diaby and now a new update has emerged on the club's pursuit of the player during the summer transfer window.
What's the latest on Newcastle's interest in Moussa Diaby?
According to Football Transfers, Newcastle have rekindled their interest in signing the Bayer Leverkusen winger this summer.
As per the report, Eddie Howe is keen to make another attempt to reach an agreement to sign Diaby ahead of next season and is hoping that with just two years left on his contract that a lower fee for the player could be negotiated.
How much does Moussa Diaby cost?
The future has never been brighter at St James' Park and in Howe's first full season in charge he led his team to achieve the dreams many Newcastle supporters thought weren't ever possible to come true just 18 months ago.
The Magpies have qualified for the Champions League for the first time in over two decades after securing a top-four finish in the Premier League last season and now Howe is tasked with a new challenge of competing on the elite European stage.
As a result, the signing of players experienced in the competition would be massively advantageous to the club in their pursuit to make their mark on Europe next season and Diaby could be another player to add that much-needed experience in the team.
The Frenchman – dubbed "incredibly dangerous" by Freiburg's Nils Petersen – has tallied up 37 appearances across major European competitions with nine of those in the Champions League, delivering 14 goals and eight assists in the prestigious tournament and Europa League combined.
Now he could offer his impressive attacking services to Newcastle as they set out next season to deliver the desired trophy and success that the club are desperate to deliver to their supporters and could ultimately be the perfect upgrade for Miguel Almiron next season on the right flank.
When comparing the Leverkusen talent's output to Almiron's last season, Diaby comfortably outperformed his positional competitor in a number of key attacking attributes including goal contributions (17 v 13), shots on target rate (43% v 29%), shot-creating actions per 90 (3.67 v 3.14) and goal-creating actions per 90 (0.53 v 0.47), as per FBref.
Not only that, the 24-year-old is an incredibly versatile prospect for the Magpies boss who is clearly keen to strengthen the wider flanks of his attacking threat, as Diaby boasts almost as much experience on the right side as he does in the left-winger role too, as well as tallying up multiple appearances in a second striker role and as a left-sided midfielder.
Whilst there is no doubt that Diaby would be an incredible asset to Howe, the stumbling block has always been his expensive transfer fee as Newcastle's hierarchy are extremely conscious of the FFP constraints they face at present.
In January the Bundesliga club reportedly quoted interested parties an eye-watering €100m (£88.5m) to sign their star winger, however, Leverkusen now are expecting a fee of around £65m if they are to part ways this summer.
With that being said, if Newcastle can agree a suitable deal for Diaby it would be a no-brainer to snap up his services ahead of next season, as his attacking presence and experience in Europe would be highly valuable in the next chapter of the club's journey for success.
