Manchester United ‘eye’ £60m Newcastle United and Arsenal ‘target’

Here, we round-up all the latest stories that have emerged from St James’ Park and beyond:

Manchester United ‘monitoring’ Moussa Diaby 

According to reports from Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Manchester United are ‘monitoring’ Moussa Diaby ahead of a potential summer move. Diaby has 14 goals and 11 assists in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen this season and has been linked with a move to the Premier League.

Arsenal and Newcastle United have previously been credited with an interest in the Frenchman, however, the Red Devils could provide extra competition for his signature. Unlike the other two interested parties, Manchester United have yet to confirm their place in next season’s Champions League and failure to do so may see any move for Diaby stall. 

A fee north of £60m will be needed to sign the winger this summer. This supposed fee is roughly the same as Leverkusen demanded for Diaby last summer - a fee that proved prohibitive for the Magpies on that occasion. 

Rafa Benitez reacts to Champions League qualification

Newcastle United secured Champions League qualification with a goalless draw against Leicester City on Monday night. That point was good enough to open up an unassailable four point gap above Liverpool and ensure they would finish in the top-four. 

The Magpies haven’t featured in the Champions League in two decades and the football world have expressed their views on their surprise qualification this season. Former Newcastle United and Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has joined in with these messages of support, tweeting his support for the team he managed for just over three seasons between 2016 and 2019.

Bentiez quote tweeted the club’s post, writing: ‘Congratulations to all involved. Howay the lads! #NUFC’

Supporters were happy to see their previous manager, someone that is still held in very high regard by the fan bae and club, support his former side. However, some eagle-eyed fans spotted an earlier tweet from Benitez, one that was swiftly deleted, that read: ‘Howdy the lads!’ - much to the amusement of many.

This was brought up in the replies by @MichaelNUFC_, to which Benitez blamed autocorrect for the inadvertent error. Bentiez has been out of management since leaving Everton in January 2021.