Bayer Leverkusen director Simon Rolfes has warned suitors of young winger Moussa Diaby that he is not for sale this summer.
The 22-year-old has played his way onto Newcastle’s radar this summer, racking up 13 goals and 12 assists in 32 Bundesliga games – the most productive campaign of his career to date.
Sources close to Newcastle have confirmed to 90min that they would be prepared to make Diaby the most expensive player in their history, while Arsenal and West Ham have both expressed an interest in the winger, although Leverkusen have been stressing behind the scenes that the France international is not for sale.
Now, Rolfes has gone public in his attempts to scare suitors away.
“No, no,” Rolfes told The Express when asked if Leverkusen had received any offers for the winger. “For sure we want to keep Moussa for as long as possible.
“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 with Patrik Schick. We do not have any offers for him but we are not even looking for that at the moment. We would like to keep him and play with him next year in the Champions League.”
Rolfes took the chance to praise Diaby for his hard work and improvement since his move from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019.
“When I see for example Moussa Diaby from when he joined three years ago compared to now in front of the goal, it’s not by coincidence that he scores more goals,” he added.
“You can see it in training. He works a lot on his finishing. He missed a lot of goals a few years ago, also in training but now it’s different. You can see the progress of our players.”
