RB LEIPZIG officials do not expect Dominik Szoboszlai to remain with the club beyond the end of the summer, with Newcastle United set to make a formal move for the midfielder in the next few days.

Szoboszlai is one of the Magpies’ key transfer targets as they look to strengthen ahead of next season’s return to the Champions League, but Newcastle’s recruitment team were unable to make any headway with their attempts to engineer a deal for the Hungary international while Leipzig were preparing for their appearance in the DFB Pokal final.

That game, which is the German equivalent of the FA Cup final, took place on Saturday evening, with Szoboszlai scoring Leipzig’s second goal in their 2-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Chelsea-bound Christopher Nkunku opened the scoring for Leipzig in the second half before Szoboszlai doubled Leipzig’s lead with five minutes remaining as he claimed his tenth goal of the season.

The 22-year-old was quizzed about his future on a number of occasions in the build-up to Saturday’s final, and pointedly refused to commit himself to Leipzig, a stance that has not gone down particularly well amongst the Leipzig hierarchy according to media reports in Germany.

Asked whether he would consider moving on if a club like Newcastle came calling, Szoboszlai, who is reported to have a buyout clause of around €70m in his current contract, said: “If there is interest, I will consider it. Not because I don’t have a good time in Leipzig, but because I have always been interested in challenges.

“On one side of the scale is a good Leipzig, with a coach who trusts me and team-mates who accept me and also believe in me. No footballer can wish for more than that, this is quite an exciting situation.

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“At the same time, on the other side, there is the question if I can now take a step towards Europe’s top five or six clubs, should I say no to the challenge? I’ve never been that type. I am in a very good position as I can play in a fantastic club. However, I don’t want 15 years from now to look back on my career as if I didn’t get the most out of it.”

Leipzig boss Marco Rose was asked about Szoboszlai’s comments, along with others that were expressed in an interview with a Hungarian media outlet, in the build-up to Saturday’s final, and while he refused to directly criticise the midfielder, he was clearly unhappy at the way in which the transfer speculation had overshadowed his side’s preparations for their biggest game of the season.

Rose made a point of highlighting the difference between Szoboszlai’s stance and that of Dani Olmo, who signed a new long-term deal with Lepzig to end speculation about his own future.

“I like that Dani Olmo extended his contract and put out a statement to everybody, to the media,” said the Leipzig boss. “We are in a good mood. Dominik is in a good mood. There were no talks with me because there was no need for them, and that's why we're looking forward to the game.”

It feels as though the end game is approaching, although Newcastle are unlikely to have things their own way as they look to engineer a deal to take Szoboszlai to St James’ Park.

Arsenal and Tottenham have also been linked with possible deals for the Hungarian skipper, and if Leipzig are to lose another one of their leading assets this summer, they will be determined to extract the maximum possible value.

That could mean sticking to Szoboszlai’s buyout clause, which Newcastle are understood to regard as overinflated. The Magpies will seek to negotiate the price down, although they might well be willing to agree to a series of potential add-ons that could take the final price of the deal beyond the club-record fee they shelled out to sign Alexander Isak from Real Sociedad last summer.