Aston Villa set to lose another key player

After signing for £52 million just one year ago, it seems Moussa Diaby could be on his way out of the club.

Gianluigi Longari, Sport Italia, has claimed that Diaby has reached an agreement on personal terms with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. It is understood that the Saudi outfit are prepared to pay a fee of £50 million. The deal would mean that Villa wouldn't really have gained or lost out financially on the player but the news will come as disappointment to many Villa fans who thought the best was yet to come from the club's record signing.

Translated, the tweet from Longari reads:

""Al Ittihad ready to invest a sum close to 60M for Moussa #Diaby of Aston Villa #AVFC .

The player already has an agreement regarding his personal terms""

The French international signed for a club record fee from Bayer Leverkusen last summer and went on to score 10 goals and produce 9 assists from his 54 appearances in all competitions in his debut season.

Diaby had Villa fans on the edge of their seats in the opening period of the season, and his early season performances justified the heavy price Villa had paid to sign him. The fans were seeing the pacy, skilful and intelligent winger that had set the Bundesliga alight the season before.

However, Diaby's form dipped and dropped out of the team around the Christmas period which was when Villa had defeated Manchester City and Arsenal in the space of a week. Villa were in great form and Diaby wasn't really a part of it.

There were moments of magic from Diaby throughout the rest of the season but his performances were generally underwhelming and his fairly good numbers and stats slightly cover the fact that he underperformed. However, as Villa fans know having seen Leon Bailey shine this season, it can take players a while to settle in a new country and new league and the fans were hopeful that Diaby would continue to improve next term.

Should the deal go through Diaby would link up with the likes of Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante next season. There will also be a sense of disappointment that Villa didn't really see the best of Diaby but the club will be hoping that the money can be invested wisely into a high-profile player. Nico Williams is already a name being discussed amongst the fans.

UTV