A claim has emerged on Newcastle United and their chances of landing Moussa Diaby in the January transfer window...
What's the talk?
Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that the Magpies could have an edge on their potential opposition to the signing of the French winger in the winter market, due to the work they put in over the summer for the Bayer Leverkusen gem.
He told GIVEMESPORT: “There will undoubtedly be competition for Diaby, he is brilliant.
"Newcastle have put in the hard yards already though so they will hope that if they want to pick up again on that transfer, they would be ahead of anyone else.”
Imagine him & Alexander Isak
If Eddie Howe and Dan Ashworth can take advantage of their headstart over the competition to land Diaby in January then he could form an exciting pairing with Isak at the top end of the pitch for the Magpies.
The Swedish striker, who joined the Toon from Real Sociedad last month, has enjoyed a solid start to life in the Premier League with two goals in three appearances thus far.
He arrived off the back of scoring 23 goals in La Liga between the 2020/21 and 2021/22 campaigns, which shows that he has the quality to score on a semi-regular basis at the top level.
Newcastle could get the best out of him by surrounding him with players who are capable of providing him with quality service week-in-week-out, in order to give him enough chances in front of goal to win crucial points for the club.
Diaby, who was reportedly valued at £55m by his club in the summer, could be that man as he has been in terrific form for Leverkusen since the start of last season.
Chronicle editor Aaron Stokes hailed the winger amid speculation that he could have been on his way to St. James' Park, Tweeting: "Electrifying pace, good with both feet + fearless on the ball. A remarkable deal if they persuade Bayer to sell + the player to join."
The speed demon created a whopping 15 'big chances' in 32 Bundesliga matches last season and racked up 12 assists, whilst he has registered one assist and five 'big chances' created in seven outings in the German top-flight this term.
Meanwhile, Allan Saint-Maximin created the most 'big chances' for Newcastle in the Premier League last season as he amassed seven in 35 appearances.
This suggests that Diaby would offer a far greater level of quality in terms of the creativity he can provide out on the wing than Howe's current options in the final third.
Therefore, his arrival could be a big boost for Isak as it could result in him receiving better chances in front of goal in the second half of the campaign, which is why the duo could be an exciting pair for the manager to deploy in matches.