Aston Villa could reportedly have a big decision to make this summer as Al Ittihad are said to be interested in signing Moussa Diaby.
The 25-year-old arrived from Bayer Leverkusen last summer in a big-money deal, and although he perhaps didn’t hit top form consistently last season, he contributed 10 goals and nine assists in 54 appearances in a positive debut campaign.
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As we’ve seen with countless players over the years, their second season in the Premier League can often see a big jump in performance having acclimatised and adapted to the English top flight, while Unai Emery has improved and developed almost every player at his disposal since taking charge at Villa.
In turn, the hope is that Diaby will kick on in the upcoming campaign and become an even more influential figure for us, but speculation is building over his future it seems.
As reported by The Athletic, Al Ittihad are interested in signing him this summer, and Villa could potentially make a significant profit on the French international after paying £34.6m plus add-ons to acquire him a year ago.
It’s a potentially major decision for Villa and Emery, as on one hand for the reasons detailed above, Diaby has the ability to become a fundamental player for us if he continues to improve, and as we look to solidify our place in the top four in the Premier League and compete in the Champions League, we ideally wouldn’t lose that calibre of player.
That said, with Emiliano Buendia, Morgan Rogers, Leon Bailey, Jacob Ramsey and the expected return of Jaden Philogene in mind, plus the possibility of seeing more signings arrive with an exit for Diaby helping to balance our spending, could he be seen as an expendable option to help strengthen the squad as a whole?
Time will tell if a formal proposal is made and whether or not it’s sufficient to convince Villa to approve a departure, but while it would be disappointing to see Diaby leave after just one season, it would undoubtedly spark an exciting period of waiting to see who Villa might identify and land to bolster our attacking options without him.
Diaby started really well for Villa and has bags of potential. I hope we wait to see him fulfil that potential
Is there more to this story than we are be told? Is Moussa’s faith a factor? Being closer to Mecca? Or is it simply the money? Why would he not want to grow under one of the best managers in the world, at a huge up and coming club, playing CL this season? I feel that this year he will settled- in and really start to show his worth.
He seems like too nice of a person to keep him in a situation that makes him unhappy. Let him go, wish him the best, and get some money on the deal. I’d rather see the unhappy manchild, Watkins back up, head out the door. I like Moussa.