Bayer Leverkusen want to sign Montpellier’s creative midfielder Ryad Boudebouz this summer and have lodged a €12m (£10.5m) bid, claims L’Equipe, via Get French Football.
Boudebouz has firmly established himself as Montpellier’s best player since joining from Bastia in 2015 but only has two years remaining on his current deal and bigger clubs are now circling.
Newcastle and Lazio have reportedly expressed an interest in the Montpellier ace but Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller is understood to have already initiated talks with the Ligue 1 club in a bid to beat their rivals.
Montpellier are reportedly holding out for €15m (£13.1m) for the 27-year-old, which would be well within the means of any Premier League side looking to add creative spark to their offensive options.
In fact, in the last three Ligue 1 campaigns Boudebouz has registered at least 83 more key passes than any other player (287), while only four players completed more dribbles than the Montpellier No.10 in that time (188).
Last season the Algeria international scored 11 goals and registered nine assists for a Montpellier side that finished the season three places above the bottom three.
For more stats on Ryad Boudebouz, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
Why has it taken so long for him to move to a bigger league?