Moussa Diaby remains a person of interest for Arsenal with the Gunners expected to knock on Bayer Leverkusen’s door once more for the player in the summer, Christian Falk confirmed in his exclusive briefing for CaughtOffside.
The London-based outfit looked set to be adding the attacking talents of Mykhaylo Mudryk to their squad ahead of the halfway point of the Premier League season though were beaten to the punch by a decisive Chelsea bid.
Having seen the impact a quality forward signing can have on a season – as may have been best demonstrated by Luis Diaz’s influence on Liverpool following his January switch in the 2021/22 campaign – there’s no question the decision will have disappointed Mikel Arteta’s outfit.
“We know that Arsenal already had contact with Moussa Diaby for last summer, so he’s still on the list, just not for the winter,” the BILD journalist said.
“We heard Leverkusen don’t want to sell him. Perhaps if Arsenal have a lot of money somewhere, maybe £100m, Leverkusen would then have a discussion but I don’t think Arsenal can spend that, as we’ve seen from the amount they were prepared to pay for Mykhaylo Mudryk.
“But they knocked on the door last summer, so I’m sure they’ll knock again next summer.”
Arsenal potentially won’t be alone in their interest come the end of the term, of course, with the left-sided attacker (currently on eight goals for Leverkusen in 2022/23) understood to be a ‘hot topic’ at Newcastle United.
Evidently, it’s an option the current league leaders will have to exercise patience over, though the availability of Champions League football next season and all the financial benefits that come with it should offer the club the chance for improved manoeuvrability in the next window.