Aston Villa new boy Moussa Diaby has made a significant impact at Villa Park after spending years honing his craft while learning from the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar
The old saying goes that if you want to be the best, learn from the best.
Watching Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Angel di Maria up close and personal certainly worked wonders for Aston Villa’s club record signing Moussa Diaby.
The speedster, signed from Bayer Leverkusen for £51.9m during the summer, could hardly fail with such a glittering array of talent in front of him. The forward, who hails from the 19th arrondissement north-east of the French capital, was picked up by Paris St Germain’s academy.
He said: “I was 13 or 14 when I signed for the academy and there were a lot of big players. Mbappe, Neymar, di Maria, Cavaniâ¦there was a long list of them. So I watched them. I watched them every day – to learn. I saw that they had a big passion. I learnt how they moved and saw how they approached every game they played in.