James Maddison or Moussa Diaby? That was the question posed by Newcastle United supporters last summer as they outlined their main target heading into the final few days of the transfer window.
Neither player would head to Tyneside with Alexander Isak taking up the spot as marquee signing for Eddie Howe's men. The Swede has struggled with injury problems since making the move to St. James' Park despite a bright start.
Regardless of Isak's arrival, speculation linking both Maddison and Diaby to Newcastle has not died down. Of the two, a move for the England international seems more likely given the size of the fee to prize him away from the King Power and the amount of time left on his contract.
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However, Diaby, like Maddison, has been in fine form this season and a number of top European clubs are continuing to monitor his development at Bayer Leverkusen. The Magpies were linked with a €60million move for the French forward, who has had to contend with the disappointment of missing out on France's World Cup squad for Qatar, despite being a regular for Didier Deschamps side heading into the tournament.
Chronicle Live spoke with German journalist Phillip Arens, the Bayer Leverkusen correspondent for BILD, for an insight into Moussa Diaby and how he's fared since speculation linking him to St. James' Park last summer.
Moussa Diaby was linked with Newcastle United last summer, were there any fears he may leave Leverkusen last summer?
Phillip Arens: "Fears maybe isn't the right term. They knew there were rumours but nothing really concrete. We heard that Leverkusen wouldn't let him go for about €100million.
"This might be a fee that a club like Newcastle could threaten a bit but the real offer didn't come as far as we're concerned. They were very, very relaxed because his contract is running until 2025 I guess.
"If a club would have liked to buy in the past, or in the future, they'd have to pay a lot of money"
What type of player is Diaby, what attributes does he have?
PA: "Of course, he's very, very fast. Maybe he's the fastest player in the Bundesliga, I'd guess so. He measured 36 kilometres per hour, I think it was in the game against Union Berlin the speed was measured.
"His speed is his greatest weapon and of course he is a technical, skilful, great dribbler and he learned a lot in the defensive play. He was lacking this in the past and he's also learned he's not only an attacker but he has to help in the defence and he did that very well in the last few games."
Was he unfortunate to miss out on France’s Word Cup squad?
PA: "He hoped to be in the original 26-man squad because he's always been - until the summer - he played four matches for the French national team. Especially when Nkunku was injured - everybody in Leverkusen thought he might be nominated for the World Cup.
"Also when Benzema bailed out, we were sure that Diaby would be selected but we know what Deschamps did. He didn't mention him. So the Sporting CEO - Simon Rolfes - said it was a pity for Moussa Diaby because he would be a starting player in every other national team.
"This might also be a motivation for his future to make the step into the French team. Of course, he has a lot of other players like Mbappe and Giroud there, but maybe time will pay for him."
Do you think he could play in the Premier a league and what sort of fee would Bayer Leverkusen ask for?
PA: "Of course he can play in the Premier League. With all his skills I've mentioned and the fee also previously mentioned (Around €100million)."
He’s still only 23, how far do you think he can go? Can he reach the very top?
PA: "He can reach the very top. He has to be more efficient in his strikes. He's scored six goals in the Bundesliga in the last games - when Xabi Alonso came.
"He has to be more concrete, more focussed in front of goal. He has every chance of getting better, Florian Wirtz is coming back and this might be good help for him.
"He's missed Florian for almost a year. One more thing he has to - one thing he learned a lot - is he shows his frustration very often and very open minded, so he was shaking his head and this wasn't very proper in his first years at Leverkusen.
"But, he's improved this and also scored a very nice goal last week in the friendly against FC Zurich so there are a lot more things we can expect from Moussa Diaby."
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