Bayer Leverkusen did not receive any offers from Newcastle United for Moussa Diaby last summer as 'a lot of scouts' continue to track the France international.
Newcastle have long been admirers of Diaby and it is easy to see why after the rapid forward was directly involved in 32 goals for Leverkusen last season. However, Leverkusen's valuation meant that a deal was always going to be unlikely last summer given how Diaby still had three years left on his contract at the time.
It is also worth noting that Diaby wanted to play in the Champions League and the 23-year-old was wary of moving abroad in a World Cup year given the upheaval involved and the fierce competition for places at international level. Diaby was ultimately left out of the France squad last month at a time when Leverkusen were struggling under Gerardo Seoane, who won just one of his opening dozen games in all competitions this season.
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Seoane has since been replaced as head coach by Xabi Alonso and Diaby starred on the right wing in the former Liverpool midfielder's first game in charge with a goal and two assists in a 4-0 win against Schalke last week. It was a timely reminder why Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen's managing director of sport, is keen to hold onto Diaby even if Newcastle will inevitably be among those sides still keeping an eye on him.
"For sure, we want to keep Moussa for as long as possible," Rolfes told the Daily Express. "I know a lot of scouts have been sitting on our tribune during our matches because we have a lot of interesting, exciting young players with high potential.
"So, it's the same as [Patrik] Schick. We did not receive any offers for him but we are not even looking for that at the moment. We wanted to keep him and play Champions League football with him this season."
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