Maza Transfer Battle Heats Up: Arsenal, Man United, and More

The chase for Maza is turning into one of Europe’s sharpest transfer battles, with Bayer Leverkusen braced for a long summer of phone calls and proposals.

Arsenal and Manchester United have pushed hardest from the Premier League so far, but they are no longer circling alone. Reports now place Manchester City and Atletico Madrid firmly in the conversation, both clubs keeping a direct line open to the midfielder’s camp as they monitor any hint that Leverkusen might be ready to negotiate.

Leverkusen’s recruitment team struck gold when they brought Maza in from Hertha BSC in the summer of 2025. The move barely caused a ripple at the time; it looks like a masterstroke now. The Algerian international has exploded into one of the Bundesliga’s standout young creators, his reputation stretching well beyond Germany and deep into the offices of Europe’s elite.

Leverkusen know exactly what they have. They are under no pressure to sell and are behaving like it. Maza is locked into a long-term deal until June 2030, a contract that hands the German champions the upper hand in any talks and the freedom to name their price.

And they have. According to Fussball News, the Werkself have placed a hefty valuation on their playmaker, with a fee of up to €70m understood to be the benchmark. That figure reflects not just what he is producing now, but what clubs believe he could become over the next decade.

The number has not scared England off. If anything, it has sharpened the focus. At Arsenal, Mikel Arteta is searching for more guile in the final third, someone to knit together possession and provide the final pass when the game tightens. At Old Trafford, the recruitment team share a similar brief: add imagination, add unpredictability, add someone who can unpick a deep block. Maza drops neatly into that profile.

His appeal runs deeper than just creativity. Coaches see a player who can be moved around the board. While he looks most natural as a classic number ten, operating between the lines and feeding runners, he has already shown he can slide back into a more orthodox central midfield role or drift out towards the flanks when the system demands it. That flexibility is gold dust for managers building complex, fluid attacking structures.

Analysts are just as enamoured. The data backs up the eye test. Maza combines sharp acceleration with real flair on the ball, the kind of burst that opens a gap and the confidence to exploit it. Paired with his vision, it makes him a constant threat in transition and against set defences alike.

He is not just a club phenomenon, either. With Algeria, he already has 21 caps and two goals to his name, a solid return that underlines his ability to carry responsibility on the international stage long before most players his age have even settled at club level.

All of that fuels the transfer noise. Yet behind the headlines sits a serious career call for a 20-year-old still carving out his path. The Premier League’s pull is obvious: global spotlight, huge stadiums, title races and Champions League nights. But the same stage can be unforgiving. A big move can just as easily lead to a season watching from the bench, development slowing while others play.

For Maza, minutes matter more than marketing. Any step away from the Bundesliga would have to come with guarantees that go beyond salary and status. He will need a clear route into the starting XI, a tactical project that matches his technical strengths, and a club willing to let him make mistakes in order to grow.

The offers will come. The question is whether the next chapter of his career is written in North London, Manchester, Madrid – or whether Leverkusen’s jewel decides that, for now, the best place to shine is exactly where he is.