A major update has emerged on Newcastle United and their interest in signing Bayer Leverkusen's Moussa Diaby... 

What's the talk?

According to the Daily Mail, the Magpies are eyeing up a £50m bid for the attacker as PIF look to bolster Eddie Howe's squad in the summer window.

The report claims that the German outfit are looking for a fee closer to the £75m they received from Chelsea for Kai Havertz, although it remains to be seen whether or not the Toon are willing to meet their demands.

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Newcastle must stump up the £75m to sign the forward as he can be their new Allan Saint-Maximin-like wing wizard next season.

Much like his fellow countryman, Diaby started his career in France - with PSG - before moving to Leverkusen where is now thriving in Germany. The current Newcastle Frenchman played for Saint-Etienne, Monaco and Nice in Ligue 1 before making the switch to England, with both players excelling away from their home country.

Interestingly, the Leverkusen man was born - in Paris - around 42 minutes away from Saint-Maximin in Châtenay-Malabry as they share more than just a similar playstyle.

His current teammate Kerem Demirbay previously lauded his talents, saying: “He's not only very quick but also a very clever player and you don't see that very often in the Bundesliga.”

Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky also added: “With his pace, Moussa can be a really, really big factor in our attacking game.”

These comments show that his teammates think very highly of him and it is easy to understand why that is the case when you delve into his statistics this season. In the Bundesliga this term, he has produced 12 goals and seven assists in 23 matches - scoring once every 164 minutes on the pitch.

He has also completed 1.8 dribbles per game and has created a whopping ten 'big chances' for Leverkusen in the division. This shows that he is a direct player who likes to use his pace to run at the opposition in order to work openings for himself and the rest of the team, much like Saint-Maximin does for the Toon.

The former Nice man has averaged 1.5 key passes per match and created five 'big chances' in the Premier League, showing that he is also capable of delivering chances to his teammates on a regular basis. Now, imagine having two players in the same team who are able to do that! A striker's dream...

PIF must now splash the cash and spend whatever is needed to sign Diaby, so that Howe will have two electric French wingers out wide.

AND in other news, NUFC can land their next Coloccini with £18m-rated beast who's "like Eden Hazard"...