Aston Villa have their £30m offer for Moussa Diaby REJECTED by Bayer Leverkusen – with Bundesliga side holding out for £50m for the winger
- The club are expected to table a second bid more in line with Leverkusen’s price
- Villa previously targeted the winger in 2021, but moved for Leon Bailey instead
- Unai Emery, along with sporting director Monchi, is planning a squad revamp
Aston Villa have had a £30million offer for Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby rejected.
The club has made the signing of the 24-year-old talent a priority in recent weeks, after first identifying the Frenchman in 2021 as an option to replace Jack Grealish following his £100m move to Manchester City.
When rebuffed, Villa instead plumped for Diaby’s then-team-mate Leon Bailey, although as Mail Sport reported on Wednesday, the club are prepared to let the Jamaica international leave this summer as Unai Emery finesses his squad in preparation for European football.
It did not take long for Leverkusen to reject the offer from Villa, as the Bundesliga side are believed to value the player at £50m.
Diaby has previously attracted interest from Arsenal, Newcastle, and Manchester United, but the Midlands club are motivated to land the winger after attempts to win the signatures of Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams and Barcelona’s Ferran Torres were fruitless.
Aston Villa have had their opening £30m offer for Bayer Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby rejected
Unai Emery is working on fine-tuning his squad to ensure their readiness for European football
Diaby has drawn the eye of a number of clubs thanks to his versatility. He can play on either flank but can also operate through the middle, making him an attractive option for Villa who are looking for both a winger and a forward.
The club will likely table a second offer for the player closer to Leverkusen’s desired price point in a bid to bring Diaby to Birmingham.
Emery, with the helping of the club’s new sporting director Monchi, is anticipating a summer of efficient business as the Villans ready themselves for a spell in the Europa Conference League after a successful seventh-place finish at the end of last season.
Villa has already recruited Pau Torres from Villarreal in a £33m deal to lure the centre back to Villa Park, and Youri Tielemans moved from relegated Leicester as a free agent in the club’s first move of the summer.
Another stumbling block for the club in their pursuit of Diaby is the former Paris Saint-Germain’s player’s preference for Champions League football.
Whilst Villa can’t offer the attacker that immediately, the long-term plan of billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens is to break through to English football’s elite in the coming seasons.
This week the club announced the signing of defender Pau Torres from Villarreal for £33m
