Newcastle did not ‘satisfy’ Valencia’s £8.6m asking price for defender

Lewis Oldham
Newcastle

Newcastle United had “strong interest” in Mouctar Diakhaby, but they did not meet Valencia’s £8.6m asking price for the defender, according to reports.

The 24-year-old progressed through the ranks at Lyon before Valencia signed him on a permanent deal in 2018.

Diakhaby has been a regular for the Spanish outfit over the past three seasons as he has played 69 times in La Liga.


The losers of the summer 2021 transfer window


The centre-back has made three substitute appearances so far this campaign. Spanish outlet Super Deporte have reported that Newcastle United were interested in signing Diakhaby before the transfer deadline.

This deal did not happen with Newcastle not placing an offer that “would satisfy” Valencia’s asking price.

A separate report from AS has revealed that Valencia were demanding around £8.6m for the defender.

Elsewhere, the Magpies were interested in signing Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury this summer on loan. This move did not come to fruition, though.

Sky Sports reported that Bruce was “desperate” to sign him:

“Discussions between Leicester City and Newcastle over a loan deal for Hamza Choudhury have broken down. The midfielder will be staying at King Power Stadium.

“Steve Bruce was desperate to bring him to St James’ Park but, despite Leicester offering compromises in terms of Choudhury’s wages, no agreement could be reached.”

Newcastle drew 2-2 with Southampton last weekend at St James’ Park. On the draw, Steve Bruce said it was a “disappointing afternoon” for his side:

“Look, they’re entitled to their opinion. Our first-half performance wasn’t good enough, so I’ll accept that.

“In the second half, we were a bit more like ourselves, we played with a bit more intensity, we passed the ball to each other better and maybe did enough to win the match.

“But it was a disappointing afternoon all round. We got a response from the team at half-time, that was pretty evident.

“I have to say, it wouldn’t have taken much to be better than we were in the first half, so I have to accept that.

“But second half, we showed a bit more intensity. We took the lead twice again today, we took the lead twice against West Ham, but we’ve only got one point to show for it.”