Aston Villa’s new signing Moussa Diaby has given his first interview since joining the club, and has revealed what made him decide to join us.
The 24-year-old has already joined up with his new teammates on our pre-season tour in the USA, and having gone through his first training session with the squad on Monday, we could get our first glimpse of him in action against Fulham in Orlando on Wednesday night.
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As per the Athletic, Villa have signed him in a deal said to be worth around €40m plus add-ons, and after a brilliant spell at Bayer Leverkusen, it’s hoped that Diaby can take his game to the next level under Unai Emery and become a fundamental figure in our push for success in the coming years.
Speaking about his move, Diaby revealed that the ambition shown by Villa in talks, particularly from Monchi and Emery, as well as the set-up at the club as we aim to build on our seventh-place finish in the Premier League last season, all convinced him that this was the best place for the next chapter in his career.
“Well, frankly it’s a great feeling to come here with Aston Villa, which is a big club with big ambitions, a new league for me to play in, the Premier League, with lots of very good teams,” he told VillaTV. “That’s why I made the decision to come to Aston Villa, an ambitious club with very good players and very good fans.
“Being able to play in the Premier League really attracted me. Then I also had a conversation with the director and the coach, and that’s it, that gave me the push to make the decision. Then I spoke with (Boubacar) Kamara and Lucas (Digne) and that’s when they told me good things about the club.”
“We regained contact and that’s when his [Emery] speech grasped me, it was a very ambitious speech which made me look forward to joining the team, which has very strong ambitions and that was it, that’s what tipped the scales for me and make the decision I made.”
Diaby also went on to speak about his friendship with Leon Bailey after their time together at Leverkusen, and he believes that having familiar faces in the Villa squad will help him settle quicker and adapt to his new surroundings and teammates.
Further, he also insisted that being able to join up with the team so quickly was a big advantage, as ultimately it will allow him to settle, get to know the players on and off the pitch and start to build chemistry and understanding to ensure they flourish on the pitch together.
That goes beyond just the playing squad too as being comfortable around the coaching staff and learning from them as well as all those involved around the first-team squad will hopefully help Diaby feel at home in the coming weeks.
“Yes, I met Leon at Leverkusen,” he added. “I know he’s a very good person, a very good player and I also know the French of the team and I think that they will help me with my adaptation here. They will allow me to learn a lot of things about the club, about the team and about the others that are involved. I think that it’s going to be very easy for me to integrate into the team and show my qualities on the pitch.
“Yes, yes, it’s true that I’ve joined the team directly at this stage. It’s been a little quick for me, but, well, like I’ve already said, I am very happy of the choice I’ve made. I am also happy to be joining the team quickly as it will allow me to form a relationship with my team-mates, the staff, and well, all the people who surround us and all those who are there for us. So, I think that it’s very important for a player to arrive quickly at a new team to be able to be in it 100% and to do their best.”
The French international went into detail on his ambitions moving forward, both individually and collectively, and it’s clear that his focus is on improving us as much as possible.
With his pace, creativity, movement and finishing, he will add an important new dynamic to our attacking play to support the likes of Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia, and it finally addresses a key position on the right wing that Emery wanted to strengthen back in January.
The tactical instructions from the Villa boss will no doubt be clear, and hopefully we’ll see Diaby adapt perfectly and become a pivotal new piece to help us achieve our objectives moving forward.
“Yes, necessarily, I have ambitions, well, my ambitions are clear, to lift the team up to get as much out of it as possible. Then my ambition is to go for Europe, which we’re not scared to say. I know that we have a good team, a very good coach, very good staff, and then my personal ambitions are to integrate myself very quickly and that’s it. Give the best of me by achieving good statistics and play good matches for the fans and for the team.”