Aston Villa are reportedly on the verge of reaching an agreement with Al Ittihad over the transfer of Moussa Diaby in a deal potentially worth in excess of €55m.
The 25-year-old was a marquee signing from Bayer Leverkusen last summer and went on to have a decent debut campaign in England, scoring 10 goals and providing nine assists in 54 appearances across all competitions.
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Diaby did struggle for consistency over the course of the season though, and at times dropped out of Unai Emery’s starting line-up, but he continued to play a crucial role in what was a successful year with us having qualified for the Champions League.
However, it appears as though the French international is unlikely to be with us for a second season, as Fabrizio Romano reports that negotiations between Diaby and Al Ittihad are now in the final stages, and so the expectation is that personal terms will be agreed imminently.
He adds that there is confidence from all sides that the deal will now be completed, but it remains to be seen how much for as it’s likely that Villa are the ones pushing for the fee to be in excess of €55m.
It will undoubtedly be disappointing to see Diaby leave after just one year, as the expectation heading into the upcoming campaign was that he would build on that and kick on having acclimatised and adapted to England, the Premier League, his teammates and Emery’s demands.
With his pace, movement and quality in the final third, he is more than capable of being a decisive figure in attack, but whether it’s down to his own personal preference of wanting to move on, Villa’s desire to sell in order to reinvest or another factor or a combination of several, it sounds as though it’s merely a matter of time before he departs.
Having confirmed the signing of Jaden Philogene on Friday, coupled with the fact that we already have Emiliano Buendia, Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Rogers and Leon Bailey in the squad who will be battling for starting spots behind Ollie Watkins, as well as the likes of John McGinn and Youri Tielemans being capable of playing in advanced roles, we may feel as though we have enough without Diaby.
Time will tell if that’s the case or not, but Villa are set to benefit from a financial perspective at least given the cash injection that comes with this big-money sale, and perhaps that will strengthen our position when it comes to not having to sell others either this summer or in the next few transfer windows.