Aston Villa win the race - Why did everyone want Moussa Diaby?

Bayer Leverkusen star winger Moussa Diaby has joined Premier League side Aston Villa. Both clubs announced the deal on the weekend. The Premier League side have beaten out Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr in the race to sign the French winger. According to various media reports, Villa have paid an initial €55 million for the French winger. “For us, Moussa Diaby is one player we were following," manager Unai Emery said in a club statement. “He’s helping us, trying to improve our level of play in the attacking third, sometimes playing on the right, sometimes he’s playing as a No.10 and sometimes he’s playing as a left winger.

Before coming to an agreement, both Aston Villa and Al-Nassr had fallen way short of Leverkusen’s evaluation of the player. Both Aston Villa and Al-Nassr have had bids of €40m and then €50m rejected. But with Diaby pushing for a move to Aston Villa, an agreement was reached on Thursday. Diaby will now become one of the most expensive departures in club history. A big part of Diaby’s future is his desire to play in the Champions League, and although Aston Villa are unable to offer that this season the Frenchman was convinced that the club is on the right track to reach that objective eventually.

In fact, Aston Villa has made a significant step in its development under new head coach Emery. Qualified for the Conference League this season, Villa have signed Pau Torres (€33m from Villarreal) and Youri Tielemans (free transfer from Leicester). The new additions have catapulted Villa’s squad value to €552m, and the club has ambitions to qualify for the Champions League next season. 

Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa: Why is the Frenchman in demand?

Diaby, in the meantime, was under contract until 2025 and has a current market value of €50m, which €10m down from his career high following the 2022 season. Cashing in on Diaby, therefore, made sense. After all, Leverkusen paid just €15m in 2019 when they signed the Frenchman from Paris Saint-Germain. Furthermore, in German national team winger Jonas Hofmann the club has already signed a replacement.

Since his arrival, Diaby has had 97 direct goal contributions in 172 games for Leverkusen. Diaby had his best season in the Bundesliga in the 2021/22 season when he scored 13 goals and 12 assists in 32 Bundesliga games. Those numbers dropped off a bit last season but were mostly due to a slow start under former head coach Gerardo Seoane. Once Xabi Alonso came in, Diaby’s productivity picked up, and he would end the season with nine goals and nine assists in 33 games. 

Stats provided by Opta further underline why Diaby is in demand this summer. Among Bundesliga players last season, the winger was ninth in key passes made, 15th in successful dribbles, and ranked fifth among Bundesliga forwards in touches made. A couple of things that the stats do not tell is that Diaby can turn at high speed, which gives him an extra edge in beating opponents one-v-one. With a top speed of 36.5 km/h Diaby was the fourth fastest player in the Bundesliga. Just to put that in perspective, that puts him in the same category as Bayern Munich superstar Alphonso Davies. That speed with endless creativity is what makes the winger a fascinating target for Premier League clubs but also explains why Leverkusen is asking a premium for the player.