Aston Villa hit gold on “deadly” ace who’s worth as much as Ronald Araujo

The basis for that was set by Aston Villa’s impressive summer transfer window in 2023 and was spurred on with the addition of Morgan Rogers in January. The Villans spent £97m last summer, according to Sky Sports, with nine teams spending more.

The signing of Youri Tielemans from Leicester City on a free transfer was an astute piece of business for Villa to conduct. The Belgian took his time to bed in at Villa Park but soon became a key player under Unai Emery.

Not only that, they brought Emery’s former defender at Villarreal, Pau Torres, into the club from the Spanish outfit. The left-footed centre-back became integral to Emery’s system at Villa and cost an initial £33m.

The addition of Nicolo Zaniolo on loan from Galatasary was a smart piece of business, as was the signing of Rogers from Middlesbrough in January, who took to the Premier League like a duck to water. He cost the Villans up to £16m.

However, there was one other summer signing, who could well have proven to be Villa’s best in the summer of 2023.

Moussa Diaby’s stats in 2023/24

The man in question here is French winger Moussa Diaby. He joined Villa last July from Bayer Leverkusen, who won the Bundesliga in remarkable fashion this season, going invincible all campaign.

Villa paid £51.9m to bring Diaby to Villa Park, a deal which smashed the club-record transfer. The previous club-record deal was that of Emiliano Budenia, who signed for Villa for a fee of £38m move from Norwich City in June 2021.

Since moving to England, Diaby has gone from strength to strength under Emery. The Frenchman scored ten goals and registered nine assists in all competitions this season, with 14 of those 19 goal involvements coming in the Premier League.

Indeed, Diaby reunited with his former Leverkusen teammate Leon Bailey this summer when he joined the Villans. The pair played together 51 times for the German side, and have since extended that tally to 84, having now combined for 11 goals, including three for Villa.

That will no doubt have been a duo Villa fans were excited to see in action for their side this season. It was a pair that was previously described by Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig as “deadly”, following their 51 combined goals and assists in 2020/21.

Diaby’s market value in 2024

Given his excellent form this season, it may come as little surprise that Diaby’s transfer value has risen greatly. In fact, Diaby is now valued higher than any of his Villa teammates, with only Douglas Luiz as high as him.

Indeed, the 24-year-old is valued at £68m according to CIES Football Observatory, more than the likes of Ollie Watkins, who is worth £51m after a stellar season, and Bailey, who is valued at £42.5m.

Interestingly, Diaby’s value is the same as one of Villa’s primary summer targets, if the rumours are to be believed.

According to reports in Spain, Villa’s manager Emery, and Sporting Director Monchi were in Spain recently to watch Ronald Araujo of Barcelona.

This comes alongside the rumour that “they were interested in the Uruguayan footballer’s situation and noted their desire to present a formal transfer proposal”, and now they have secured Champions League football, is a move they could make, according to the report.

This would be a costly deal and would cost tens of millions of pounds. Araujo is valued at £68m by CIES, just as Diaby is. It could well be a transfer that shatters the transfer record they set when buying the Frenchman last summer if it goes through.

Regardless, the deal to sign Diaby has proven to be a successful one. He has an impressive amount of goal involvements and has seen a spike in his transfer value which would offer good profit to Villa should they hypothetically decide to sell him.

It is great business from Emery and Monchi, and they will be hoping to build upon that in the Champions League next season.