NEWCASTLE UNITED have held a discussion with Leeds United officials about Raphinha – but are waiting to see how things develop with the Brazilian before deciding whether to table a formal offer for the winger.

The Magpies had four key priorities when the transfer window opened at the start of the summer – a new goalkeeper, which has been addressed with the signing of Nick Pope, a centre-half, which will be ticked off provided Sven Botman passes his medical later today, a centre-forward, which is currently on hold because of the deadlock over Hugo Ekitike, and a wide attacker.

The fourth of those priorities has been the one that has had the least attention so far, although there has been fresh movement on that front in the last few days.

Newcastle’s recruitment team have made renewed contact with Bayer Leverkusen over Moussa Diaby, although the German club are still publicly stating that they do not want to sell the France international, who they value at around €50m.

Bayer Leverkusen are gearing up for the group stages of the Champions League, with Diaby’s 17 goals and 14 assists in the Bundesliga last season having been a key part of their success, and their sporting director, Simon Rolfes, is adamant they are not under any financial pressure to sell their leading asset.

“We want to keep Moussa for as long as possible,” said Rolfes. “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.

“It is always the same, we do not have any offers for him, but we are not looking for that at the moment. We would like to keep him, and for him to play with us next season in the Champions League.”

Leverkusen’s stance has forced Newcastle to assess alternatives, and they have made contact with the hierarchy at Leeds to flag up their potential interest in Raphinha.

The Brazilian looks increasingly likely to leave Elland Road this summer, and while Newcastle would not be willing to go anywhere near Leeds’ current £60m valuation of the winger, they intend to remain part of the discussion if his other suitors are also reluctant to meet that price.

Arsenal and Chelsea have both been heavily linked with Raphinha, and are known to have held discussions, but neither London club has been able to agree a deal because, like Newcastle, they regard Leeds’ current demands as far too high.

With Kalvin Phillips on his way out of Elland Road to join Manchester City, Leeds are determined to extract the maximum price for Raphinha if he also leaves as they accept they will have to make some major reinvestments into their squad.

Newcastle would potentially be willing to agree to a deal worth around £40m, although some of that fee would be dependent on add-ons, and are waiting to see how things develop in the next few days before deciding whether or not to step up their interest.

Botman’s transfer should be confirmed in the next couple of days, with the Dutch centre-half due to undergo a medical on Tyneside this morning.

Personal terms have already been agreed, so provided there are no unforeseen issues with the medical, Botman’s transfer from Lille should be confirmed before the non-international members of Newcastle’s first-team squad return to the club’s Little Benton training complex for the start of pre-season training at the end of this week.