Newcastle target Kacper Potulski not for sale insists Mainz 05 chief

Recently, Newcastle United were credited with an interest in FSV Mainz 05's young defender Kacper Potulski.

The 18-year-old has impressed in his breakout season in the Bundesliga, where he has made 15 appearances since his debut in November.

Potulski even managed to register a goal and an assist in those appearances from centre-back.

Newcastle are in the market for young talent to develop into stars, and Potulski's early promise has certainly caught the Magpies' eye.

Kacper Potulski is staying at Mainz for now 

Bayer Leverkusen are also keen to sign the Polish defender, but speaking to Bild (via Bulinews), Mainz 05's sporting director Christian Heidel has insisted that Potulski is going nowhere this summer.

“The fairytale is not over yet; it is not our intention to let him go and he will not leave. He has to play now and establish himself as a regular starter with us.

“He has to play now and establish himself as a regular starter with us."

This won't put Newcastle off if they really feel that Potulski is the right signing. We've seen sporting directors and managers say these kinds of things before and the player still ended up leaving - dare we mention Alexander Isak?

Interested but not ready to bite?

When Newcastle's interest first came to light, it was reported that Potulski had just changed representation and was also in talks with Bayer Leverkusen, so things may be taken out of Heidel's hands yet, although he is contracted at Mainz until 2028, so they will be able to ask for a good price.

We're not 100% convinced that Kacper Potulski is a target for Newcastle this summer. It feels like he's a player they're keeping an eye on, monitoring his development, but not ready to make a move yet.

Although it could just be Newcastle reverting to their old tricks of taking an absolute age to get involved, allowing other clubs to get there first. We'll see.