Aston Villa-bound star gets dream Prem move but he ‘hoped for Arsenal’ to sign him instead

Ciaran McCarthy
Moussa Diaby, Bayer Leverkusen, March 2023
Moussa Diaby celebrates goal with arms aloft

Soon-to-be Aston Villa star Moussa Diaby “was always dreaming of the Premier League” but rather than the Villans, he apparently “hoped for Arsenal” to sign him this summer.

Diaby will reportedly become the latest star to head to Villa Park this summer. While he was also being hunted by Saudi Arabian sides, trusted insider Fabrizio Romano has stated he’s agreed to join Villa instead.

That’ll make him the third star to walk through the door, after Youri Tielemans and Pau Torres. The move to Villa for Diaby will allow him to realise his dream of playing in the English top flight, as per Christian Falk.

“Moussa Diaby was always dreaming of the Premier League and he dreamed of playing for a Champions League club,” Falk told Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing.

While Villa do have European football, and a continued rise could soon see them playing in Europe’s elite competition, they won’t be playing in the Champions League just yet.

Diaby was actually hopeful he’d be able to move to a different Premier League side who are going to play in that competition next season.

“He hoped for Arsenal, he hoped for Newcastle but both clubs haven’t become concrete until now,” Falk said.

Had either side made a genuine effort to sign him, rather than just registering an interest, which is how things seem to have panned out, the winger might have gotten the chance to play for one of them.

In any case, he seems happy enough with Villa, following reports of an agreement. Falk has reiterated that plans are being put in place so that the move runs smoothly.

“The negotiations are very close with Aston Villa. We think he won’t play Leverkusen’s upcoming match against Paderborn on Friday so he won’t get injured,” Falk added

“It’s going very quick now and they don’t think he’ll join the team when they go to the training camp on Sunday. Aston Villa will pay £47.6m plus £4.3m in add-ons.”

At this point, there’s no suggestion of when the deal will be fully over the line and Diaby will officially become a Villa player. However, after multiple reports stated it’s going the right way, it can’t be long before Villa are able to call upon his services.

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