BBC pundit hopes Aston Villa can keep ‘outstanding’ Moussa Diaby amid Paris Saint-Germain hints
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Alan Hutton has admitted “the problem” with players starring for Aston Villa is that it could see them become targets for Europe’s biggest sides.
The former Villans defender says Moussa Diaby has been “outstanding” since his £51.9million move from Bayer Leverkusen this summer [Guardian, 21 July] and he hopes the 24-year-old wants to stay for the long-term at Villa Park and grow with the club.
But amid the French forward speaking glowingly about his former side Paris Saint-Germain [Onze Mondial, 22 September] and hinting at a possible return, Hutton has acknowledged nothing is guaranteed.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News the BBC pundit said: “Well I hope [he’ll stay]. I hope he wants to be part of it and build on it.
“He’s been an outstanding signing. Obviously it was a lot of money but he’s come in and he’s done everything that’s been asked of him.
“He’s got pace. He can take people on. He can assist. He can score goals. He can literally do it all.
“The problem with that is, playing in one of the best leagues in the world, that there’s only these other bigger teams that come looking. That’s just the world that it is.
“I want to see him stay and grow as a player because I think Villa are going in that direction, as far as they’d done well last season under the manager, they’re in European competition, and kick on ahead and do even better this season, bring in bigger targets.
“You want him to be part of that process. Whether he wants to stick around for that only he will know.”
Diaby has largely been excellent since his arrival at Aston Villa, with two goals and two assists in the Premier League, even if he couldn’t prove to be the difference in the EFL Cup loss to Everton on Wednesday (27 September).
Few clubs can resist the financial might of PSG, and with the possibility for a feeling of unfinished business at the Qatar-backed giants there is potentially an added threat to Villa when it comes to their club-record signing.
But as long as Unai Emery continues leading the club in the right direction there is scope for key players to see more potential for progression where they are, so the stakes are high as the Spaniard has the club hovering just outside the elite but the risk comes with plenty of potential reward.
In other Aston Villa news, a “strange” decision from the manager backfired and has left Hutton baffled.