Bayer Leverkusen are increasingly happy with the deal they agreed to sell Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa in the summer, as the money secured has funded their success this season.
That’s according to Sport 1, who say the ‘groundbreaking’ deal to sell Diaby to Aston Villa has proven to be a smart one for all involved.
The outlet explains how sporting director Simon Rolfes ‘silenced’ his critics after arriving a year and a half ago with the remit of turning the club’s fortunes around.
That seemed an impossible job, but he’s managed to do just that, reshaping the squad to suit manager Xabi Alonso, who now has them as one of the most exciting teams in Europe and challenging for the Bundesliga title.
To do the work he’s done he first had to sell players this summer, with Mitchel Bakker, Kerem Demirbay, Sardar Azmoun and Moussa Diaby all departing.
The latter moved to Aston Villa in a €55m deal and that one proved to be a ‘groundbreaking one’ as it provided Rolfes with a new transfer budget that allowed him to buy ‘everything his coach wanted’.
He brought in Granit Xhaka, Alejandro Grimaldo, Jonas Hoffman and Victor Boniface with the money brought in from Diaby’s sale to Aston Villa and they’ve proven to be ‘four absolute dream players’ for the club and Alonso.
Diaby, meanwhile, has established himself as a key player under Unai Emery and started in England where he left off in Germany so he’s undoubtedly happy with the move too.
All in all, it’s proven to be a deal that suited everyone involved, but particularly Leverkusen, who sold one player to fund the addition of four who have worked out as complete transfer hits for Rolfes.
