Bundesliga chief addresses Newcastle United’s links to £110m attacking duo

Bayer Leverkusen director of sport Simon Rolfes wants to keep Moussa Diaby and Patrik Schick “for as long as possible”.

Newcastle United have been heavily linked with both players in the past, most recently Diaby, who was under consideration during the summer.

However, the Bundesliga club’s reported valuation of £60million kept the Magpies away and they instead smashed their transfer record to land Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad for £58m.

The French winger, who scored 12 goals and provided 13 assists last season, is still admired by scouts at Newcastle and many other clubs also.

Although Leverkusen did not receive any official bids for the 23-year-old last summer, that will inevitably change in future windows.

Rolfes, however, is keen to keep hold of Diaby following his rapid progress since joining from Paris Saint-Germain.

‘We want to keep Moussa for as long as possible’

“When I see Moussa Diaby, for example, 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,” Rolfes told the Daily Express.

“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 a different story. You can see the progress of our players... sometimes you have to give them a little bit of time but to work individually with the players, it’s key. They have to learn a lot.

“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 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.”

Previous Patrik Schick interest

Newcastle’s interest in Schick dates back to 2019 before the Czech Republic international left Roma for RB Leipzig on loan.

Those links resurfaced in January - with £50m as the reported asking price - but the 26-year-old all-but ended speculation by signing a new contract at Leverkusen in May until 2027.

Rolfes said: “We knew on that position [interest in Schick], that there are not a lot of players operating at Patrik’s level. Firstly, it was really important to show commitment from our side.

“We want to improve as a club but also with our players. We want to keep them for perhaps one or two years longer. Five years ago, we would probably just sell them.

“Patrick is an integral player. We saw it during the European Championships and then he played another fantastic season in the Bundesliga. He has great technique, he is a great header of the ball, so skilful and for us, it’s a massive thing that he extended his contract.

“We did not receive any offers this summer but sensed they were probably coming. There has been some interest but nothing was concrete. For both sides, it was clear that we wanted to continue working together.”