According to new reports in Spain, Newcastle made a late loan move for Mouctar Diakhaby last month.
This comes from Spanish outlet Marca, who state that the Valencia defender was quick to reject our offer, believing he ‘deserved something better’ than a move to St James’ Park.
Considering this is a player struggling to get game time in La Liga this season – failing to start in any of their opening three games – it’s pretty damning that a spell on Tyneside didn’t appeal.
The Frenchman was heavily linked in the final weeks of the summer transfer window, with some outlets claiming that Valencia were happy to sell if an offer in excess of £10m arrived.
However, the lack of funds available to Steve Bruce made it seem pretty clear that no permanent deal would be possible – which perhaps explains why our ‘late bid’ was in fact a loan offer.
Marca claim that we were keen to see how he’d cope in the Premier League before considering anything more than an initial loan, yet they insist any move was a non-starter from the player’s perspective.
If true, this is the second French defender to reject a move to Tyneside over the summer, with The Athletic confirming that Marseille star Boubacar Kamara turned down a deadline day approach.
