Chelsea and Newcastle United have ‘joined the consultations’ for Real Betis youngster Assane Diao, who is also being pursued by Liverpool and Manchester United.
According to Estadio Deportivo, the two clubs are in talks with the player’s agent and family after watching him live in recent games against Valencia and Sparta Prague.
According to the newspaper, while Diao is not currently in the best shape of his young career, as he has publicly admitted, interest in him is not waning.
Betis officials are already working on a new contract for the player that will ‘truly protect him’ and raise his €30 million release clause, which is quickly becoming too low for a player with such a high ceiling.
They are already aware of the interest in their child, as well as the fact that the ‘hype does not stop’ about him, even in his current slump.
Chelsea and Newcastle have joined the consultations with his agent and family after seeing him live against Valencia and Sparta Prague. Liverpool and Manchester United had already positioned themselves for a potential transfer.
For the time being, Diao does not appear to be interested in moving and is likely to stay put, signing a new contract and continuing his rapid improvement under Manuel Pellegrini, who has shown faith in him since day one.
He will not leave Betis for more money now, believing that he will earn large wages in the future and that his development at Betis is more important.
Thus, the Spanish side hopes to improve his contract by extending it by three years and increasing the release clause to €40 million, which is a “convincing figure.”
Whether Chelsea or Newcastle are willing to pay that in the future is debatable, but they are now in the running for the youngster and appear to be keeping a close eye on his development.
