News about Moussa Diaby

A former Manchester United star has moved to Saudi Arabia after leaving one of European football's top teams to put pen-to-paper on a two-year contract at Pro League side Al-Fayha. The Middle East has continued to attract European stars with the likes of Ivan Toney and Moussa Diaby amongst the most high-profile Premier League departees.

Aston Villa and Arsenal are set to face each other in their second Premier League game of the season, following confident wins over West Ham United and Wolverhampton respectively in their opening matches. Despite securing a highly successful fourth place in the table last season, the Lions have experienced the departure of key players such as Moussa Diaby to Al-Ittihad and Douglas Luiz to Juventus, raising questions over whether they can repeat the feat this season. However, Villa did manage to replace Luiz with Amadou Onana from Everton in a £50million record signing, with the defensive midfielder netting on his debut against West Ham on the opening weekend.

IAN LADYMAN: We have new managers at Chelsea (of course we do) and Liverpool, as well as one at Manchester United who still has as much to prove as anyone. But this could also be Guardiola's last dance at City - his last season. Out of contract at the end of the campaign, Guardiola's messages on the matter have been mixed but inside his football club there is an acceptance that this may be the year that one of the greatest and most transformative managerial reigns in the history of our game comes to an end.

After finishing fourth in last season's Premier League, Villa have had a busy summer in the transfer market. Ian Maatsen, Amadou Onana, Jaden Philogene, Ross Barkley, Enzo Barrenechea, Samuel Iling-Junior, Lewis Dobbin and Cameron Archer have all arrived at Villa Park as part of a summer spree costing more than £135m. Villa have recouped a similar amount through player sales, with the likes of Moussa Diaby, Douglas Luiz and Omari Kellyman all moving on for significant fees. Fulham have been much less active in the summer window so far. Three players have joined the Cottagers, in Ryan Sessegnon, Emile Smith Rowe and Jorge Cuenca, while Joao Palhinha, Tim Ream and Kieron Bowie have departed.

Angry Atletico Madrid supporters directed x-rated chants at Joao Felix as the Portuguese midfielder scored in his side's pre-season friendly win over Getafe on Saturday evening. The Portugal international, who missed the decisive penalty in his side's Euro 2024 quarter-final defeat against France, has returned to Madrid after spending last season on-loan at Barcelona .

SIMON JONES: Aston Villa are monitoring developments with Borussia Dortmund's Karim Adeyemi. The 22-year old has attracted interest from Chelsea and Juventus this summer and has made his intentions clear that should he leave Dortmund it would only be for a club competing in the Champions League. Villa have sold Moussa Diaby to Al Ittihad and bought back Jaden Philogene from Hull City but have checked on Adeyemi who has four caps for Germany.

Moussa Diaby admitted he was 'thrilled' after completing his £50m transfer to Saudi Arabian side AL-Ittihad just 12 months after the 25-year-old winger initially joined Aston Villa. He leaves the Clarets after making 54 appearances for Villa across all competitions and scoring 10 goals, while providing nine assists as he slotted into Unai Emery's forward line.

Aston Villa remain firmly interested in pursuing a deal for Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix as the Portuguese star weighs up his future after spending last season on-loan at Barcelona. The attacker - who previously spent half a season on-loan at Chelsea - is due to return to Atletico for pre-season training on July 26 after representing Portugal at Euro 2024.

Al-Ittihad have verbally agreed a €60million (£50.5million) package including add-ons with Aston Villa for Moussa Diaby.   As reported by Fabrizio Romano, the winger has agreed a five-year deal with the Saudi Arabian side. The deal is very close to being finalised, with Diaby set to leave Villa after just one year at the club.

The Premier League has been littered with lightning-quick players since its inception in 1992, and the 2023-24 campaign has proved no exception. Here, Mail Sport runs through the fastest players on each of the Premier League teams and their quickest performances - and be warned, there are quite a few shocks below.

Moussa Diaby's goal against Wolves back in March has been officially recognised as the most powerful strike of the season. His power-packed opener, against near neighbours Wolves, was named the Oracle Most Powerful Goal of the season based on the speed at which the ball travelled after leaving his foot - a staggering 68mph. Oracle, the Premier League's official cloud provider, calculates The Most Powerful Goal awards, with only goals from outside the area eligible for consideration, with no deflections allowed.

Aston Villa supporters have urged the club to hand a 'lifetime' season ticket to the woman who sprung to action to save a fan who suffered a cardiac arrest at their clash against Olympiacos on Thursday night.  The UEFA Conference League semi-final match was delayed after the incident happened on the stroke of half time, with fans evacuated from the lower stand of the Holte End at Villa Park.  A team of medics were quickly sent to aid the stricken fan who had collapsed as supporters dispersed from the area after the PA system urged them to clear the space to allow treatment to take place. 

Ayoub El Kaabi netted a hat-trick as Olympiacos stunned Aston Villa with a 4-2 away win in their Europa Conference League semi-final first leg on Thursday to give themselves a strong chance of becoming only the second Greek side to compete in a European club competition final. Olympiacos went 2-0 up inside the opening half hour and although Villa pulled level through Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby. The Greek side scored two more goals in the second half to secure a handy advantage ahead of next Thursday's return leg.

The second half of Aston Villa's Europa Conference League semi-final against Olympiacos was delayed after a fan in the Holt End suffered a cardiac arrest and causing supporters to be evacuated from the lower tier of the stadium. Members of the home crowd were instructed by the PA system to evacuate the area as quick as possible, while both sets of players were already back in their respective dressing rooms. An ambulance was quickly readied to take the fan to hospital while emotional fans watched the tragic scenes unfold inside the ground.

ASTON VILLA 2-4 OLYMPIACOS - TOM COLLOMOSSE AT VILLA PARK: Villa's hopes of a first major continental trophy since 1982 were left hanging by a thread as Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick to help Olympiacos to victory. El Kaabi's double put Olympiacos in control and though Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby scored either side of half-time to bring Villa level, El Kaabi sealed a hat-trick from the spot and Santiago Hezze's deflected effort made it four. Douglas Luiz then missed a penalty leaving Villa with a huge task to overturn this in Athens next week and reach the Europa Conference League Final.

LEWIS STEELE AT VILLA PARK: Aston Villa were unable to overcome Olympiacos at Villa Park and face a tough task in Greece after falling 4-2 to the travellers on Thursday evening.  Here, Mail Sport reviews the hosts' performances on a troublesome night in the Midlands.

JOE BERNSTEIN AT VILLA PARK: Not only is Ollie Watkins in the running to win a Golden Boot, he's also the leading assist-maker in the Premier League this season. Aston Villa's comeback win cemented their position in fourth and although Watkins wasn't on the scoresheet himself, he created match-winning goals in the second half for Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey. Significantly, they were both greeted by fans singing the name of the England striker rather than either of the scorers.

JOE BERNSTEIN AT VILLA PARK: As Aston Villa defeated their bogey team and regained fourth position from Tottenham who had won earlier in the season, Ezri Konsa made a memorable week by scoring his first goal since 2021. Konsa, who won his first England caps against Brazil and Belgium in the recent international break, sealed Villa's victory with a dinked cross destined for Jhon Duran at the far post but instead sailed over Jose Sa. Villa's power-packed opener and their first victory over Wolves in seven attempts, and their first at Villa Park in the Premier League since a young Gareth Barry scored in 2003.

During a brief stoppage in Iftar's second half, Moussa Diaby and Rayan Ait-Nouri were able to snap their fast. Iftar is Ramadan's fast-breaking evening meal at the time of adhan of the Maghrib prayers.

TOM COLLOMOSSE: We're going to find out how well Villa can cope without their captain and most popular player. Ollie Watkins contributes to the goals, Emi Martinez makes the saves, and Leon Bailey adds the flair, but McGinn is the man who knits, not the knitter. He won't be back for the next three matches, but it could be too late. McGinn made the wild tackle on Udogie while Villa was surprisingly losing 4-0 at home to Spurs on Sunday, in addition to missing the home game against Wolves on March 30 and the trip to Manchester City on April 3.

It's nights like this one that could have Rob Edwards ruining what might have been. Aston Villa were by no means dominant, but Lucas Digne's 89th-minute winner off the bench at Kenilworth Road brought the 10,000 home fans in in after their team's second half comeback. At halftime, the hosts seemed to be headed for home loss number nine, with Ollie Watkins double putting Aston Villa in the driving seat, but Tahith Chong, Carlton Morris, and, of course, those Hatters supporters were hoping for a much deserved and well-deserved result. However, with a huge point to lose, Unai Emery's replacements put it on a parachute, with Moussa Diaby bringing it all together, cementing his team's Champions League push and shattering his opponents' hopes.

Manchester United's recruitment in the past two years has been criticized extensively, and now three of the Premier League's top recruiters have been named among the top 20 underperformers. A graph containing data from Twenty First Group compared the two-year average ratings of all Premier League players and plotted it against their new nine-month ratings. The chart then shows how much money the player has been playing against various rankings, ranging from 'League Two Averages (300)' to 'Ballon d'Or Contenders (1000+)'.

After Chelsea's surprise 3-1 win over Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round, Mauricio Pochettino was praised by the Chelsea team. Following Sunday's humiliating 4-2 loss to Wolves, the Blues and their manager entered a replay at Villa Park under intense tension. Chelsea were superb against their in-form opponents, who beat Sheffield United 5-0 over the weekend, before Moussa Diaby scored a late consolation.

Since his £107 million takeover from Benfica as the last defender, the midfielder has had a rough time, but he put on his best showing in a Blues shirt against Aston Villa on Saturday. Fernandez, who came from Chelsea on the back of a good World Cup campaign with losers Argentina, helped keep the first half ablaze, as his friendship with Moises Caicedo began to blossom. Despite being up against it right away, he scored a spectacular free kick right before the game, putting his team up and on the verge of qualifying for the fifth round of the FA Cup.