Aston Villa leapfrog Arsenal, Newcastle as Emery goes after pricy forward who’ll be allowed to leave
Aston Villa have reportedly sent an ‘opening proposal’ to Bayer Leverkusen regarding Moussa Diaby, who Arsenal and Newcastle United both seemingly feel is too expensive.
One signing has been confirmed at Villa Park so far this summer: Youri Tielemans on a free transfer. He’ll be joined by Pau Torres, who’s soon to join for a reported £35million.
Manager Unai Emery seems keen to ensure his side remain competitive in the Premier League, whilst also having a crack at European football, given they’ll play in the UEFA Conference League next season.
Another big signing could certainly help them do that. Indeed, Villa have reportedly sent an ‘opening proposal’ to Bayer Leverkusen regarding winger Diaby, as per L’Equipe.
Competition for the forward seems to have cleared of late. Both Arsenal and Newcastle have been linked with him, but interest has cooled, with his price tag seemingly too much, as per reports from separate sources.
But Villa seem encouraged that they can get the deal done. That’s because Leverkusen have informed Diaby he can leave if a ‘suitable offer’ comes in.
That report does not detail what offer the German outfit would deem as suitable. However, it’s likely quite a high one, given two big-name Premier League sides have already decided it’s not worth it.
Given Villa’s interest is fairly new, there’s a chance that after their opening proposal, they also go down that route. However, for now, they seem very keen on Diaby.
It’s not difficult to see why that is. Last season in the Bundesliga, the Frenchman scored nine goals and provided a further nine assists.
The season prior, he bagged 13 goals, while providing 12 assists. He’s also scored 10 goals and assisted five times across his last three seasons of European football.
Those are each at a level higher than what Villa will be playing in next season: two seasons in the Europa League and one in the Champions League. As such, Diaby might well dominate if he was to drop down to the Conference League.
It remains to be seen if money is an issue for the Villans. They’ve not spent massive sums of late, but are well backed by the board, so there’s certainly a chance that they manage to come up with a deal that sees Leverkusen allow Diaby to leave.
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