Aston Villa forward ‘approves’ Saudi transfer after one season with club ‘ready to invest £51m’
Saudi Pro League club Al Ittihad are ‘dreaming’ of signing Moussa Diaby and have agreed personal terms with the Aston Villa winger, according to reports.
Diaby made the move from Bayer Leverkusen to Aston Villa last summer for a fee in the region of £48million.
The French winger played 54 times across all competitions in his debut season at Villa Park, scoring 10 goals and assisting another nine.
Overall, it was a disappointing campaign for a player who moved to the Premier League with lofty expectations.
Arsenal and Newcastle United had been strongly linked with Diaby before his switch last summer, though it was between the Villans and Saudi Arabian outfit Al Nassr.
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There is still interest from the Middle East, with Al Ittihad looking to negotiate a deal with Aston Villa. We called this over a month ago for what it’s worth…
According to transfer journalist Gianluigi Longari, Karim Benzema’s side have reached an agreement on personal terms with Diaby, who has ‘given his approval’ for the move to be finalised.
Longari initially reported on Wednesday that Diaby is a ‘dream’ target for Al Ittihad with negotiations now expected to begin following the agreement with the player.
It is claimed that the Saudi side are ‘ready to invest a sum close to €60m’ (£51m) for the 25-year-old.
Reports elsewhere claim that the French international could be joined at Al Ittihad by AS Roma midfielder Houssem Aouar, who is the ultimate perpetually linked with the Premier League player.
As touched on earlier, it wasn’t the best of debut seasons from Diaby. In November, Villa head coach Unai Emery said he wanted to see more from the big-money summer signing and we don’t think he ever did.
“In his adaptation it’s still important to support him and try to practice with him and his team-mates in the idea we are trying to create,” Emery said.
“He’s in this process. When he’s scoring and playing matches, we are getting good performances and we are very happy.
“He can improve, he can play better and he is doing well but I want to support him and try to demand more from him because he can do it.”
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