Aston Villa on verge of £46m+ Moussa Diaby agreement amid eye-watering personal terms
Aston Villa are on the verge of agreeing a fee of over £46m for Moussa Diaby with Al-Ittihad, according to Florian Plettenburg.
The Sky journalist posted on his X account [21 July] to report that the club are in the advanced stages of finalising terms with the Saudi Pro League outfit.
Personal terms have been agreed between Diaby and Al-Ittihad, where the 25-year-old could earn over £19.3m per year (£371,000 per week) with add-ons included.
Plettenburg shared: “Total agreement between Al-Ittihad and Moussa Diaby is done …
“… All parties involved hope to get the deal done and sealed today or tomorrow.”
Aston Villa set to sell Diaby to Saudi Arabia
It was a year ago on Monday that Diaby reportedly turned down a move to the Saudi Pro League [Fabrizio Romano, 20 July 2023] to join Aston Villa from Bayer Leverkusen, and the winger enjoyed a successful campaign as Unai Emery’s side secured Champions League football.
But it appears this time around that the winger – who has albeit already experienced Europe’s top competition previously – has found the new approach, this time from Al-Ittihad rather than Al-Nassr last summer, too good to turn down.
Villa want to recoup as much of the hefty fee they themselves paid for Diaby as possible, and that the move is happening this summer has shocked some quarters.
The Athletic reported [20 July] that Saudi clubs would ease off the gas slightly compared to last season’s raid on European talent, but this brazen move for Villa’s star illustrates quite the contrary.
Al-Ittihad are also the club in the SPL looking to tempt Kevin de Bruyne [Daily Mirror, 21 July], who has refused to rule out a move to the Middle East, and currently boast Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho among their squad.
It could be an interesting game of indirect chess to see who may regret the move first – Aston Villa or the French international himself.
In other Aston Villa news, the latest on Amadou Onana’s anticipated move to the club.
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