Aston Villa have made a second offer for Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby, understood to be worth up to €50million (£42.9m, $56.2m).
Head coach Unai Emery is specifically pushing for the 24-year-old’s arrival, identifying him as a key target.
Villa made an initial offer of €35m (£30m) with an extra €10m in add-ons for Diaby, but that was swiftly rejected by the Bundesliga club.
Talks have continued between the two sides as Villa look to land one of their most important transfers in this summer’s window.
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Strengthening the attack and wide areas is the most pressing concern for Villa after they failed to get Marco Asensio, who signed for Paris Saint-Germain, and have so far been unable to prise Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao.
Emery is hoping to add depth to his side after Villa secured European football last season with a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.
Diaby, meanwhile, has been at Leverkusen since 2019 after signing from Emery’s former club, PSG, on a five-year deal.
The France international enjoyed a stellar individual campaign last season, scoring 14 goals and assisting 11 times across 48 appearances in all competitions.
Villa are preparing for their upcoming participation in the Premier League Summer Series, where they first play Newcastle United on July 24, followed by games against Fulham and Brentford.
They then play two pre-season friendlies against Lazio and Valencia at the start of next month before their first Premier League match of 2023-24 against Newcastle on August 12.
GO DEEPER
Building a team for Europe: What Villa, Brighton and Newcastle need to get right
Diaby is Leverkusen’s emerging livewire with a fondness for extravagance
_Analysis by Carl Anka and Thom Harris _
When Moussa Diaby shoots, he aims for the corners.
The 23-year-old French winger has developed a reputation in the Bundesliga, not just for his goals but also for how he scores them. He applies plenty of top spin to the ball to make sure his shots are low, hard and driven towards the corners of the goal. It’s a ball-striking technique that made Stefan Kiessling a fan-favourite at Bayer Leverkusen, scoring 131 goals in 344 league games.
Diaby developed as a central striker at Paris Saint-Germain’s academy before becoming the winger we see today. Despite being reconfigured in Germany, he retains a keen eye for goal and has good movement inside the penalty area.
(Photo: Joachim Bywaletz/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
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