Aston Villa Moussa Diaby has explained how the club convinced him to join in the summer, despite Saudi Arabia offering him their millions to move there instead.
Diaby has been speaking to Onze Mondial about his career so far, which has seen him play for PSG, Bayer Leverkusen and now Aston Villa, as well as a loan spell with Crotone in Italy.
He moved to Villa Park in a €55m deal in the summer transfer window after an impressive four-year spell at Leverkusen where he had established himself as one of the rising stars of Europe with a tally of 49 goals and 48 assists in 172 games for the club.
That saw him regularly linked with a big move away from the German side, with PSG even having considered bringing him back to the club on several occasions.
That was again the case this summer, but it was ultimately Aston Villa who won the race for his signature, moving quickly to wrap up a deal in something of a surprise move.
That’s worked out for all parties so far as he’s managed four goals and five assists in 26 games so far as Unai Emery’s side have shone in the Premier League and in Europe as well.
They appear to be going places under the Spanish boss and Diaby admits it was the plan presented to him which managed to convince him to turn down big money being offered in Saudi Arabia.
“I admit that I thought about it for a long time,” he said.
“When you see all the players leaving and the financial conditions offered, you tell yourself that you can shelter everyone around you quickly. But I also know that you have to live your sport to the fullest and not have any regrets.
“The Premier League is the most competitive championship in the world. I wanted to compete against the best teams. I am not denigrating the Saudi championship, because I sincerely think that they are building something very coherent.
“The project (at Aston Villa) convinced me. The ambition of the leaders and the discussions that I was able to have with coach Emery, whom I knew from PSG, were key elements in my decision-making.
“And then the club, its history, its supporters, its brand-new training center… All the conditions are there for me to flourish.”
