Aston Villa 'agree deal' to sell record signing to Saudi Arabia

Aston Villa have agreed a deal to sell record signing Moussa Diaby to Saudi Arabia just 12 months after his arrival at the club.

Diaby was tempted by a move to Saudi side Al Nassr last summer but ultimately opted to join Villa in a deal worth over £50m, after which he struggled to showcase his best form on a consistent basis.

90min confirmed last week that Diaby had once again received an approach from Saudi Arabia, this time from Al Ittihad, and had expressed an interest in heading to the Middle East 12 months after rejecting a switch.

While Villa were reluctant to agree to a sale, Fabrizio Romano reports that a deal has been struck to take Diaby to Al Ittihad for a fee of around €60m (£50.5m).

A five-year deal, which includes a salary of almost €15m (£12.6m), is currently in the process of being finalised.

Villa were among the sides forced to do business before June 30 to avoid financial rule breaches, and they have once again been incredibly active in the summer transfer market ahead of their Champions League journey.

Ian Maatsen, Cameron Archer, Jaden Philogene, Samuel Iling Junior, Lewis Dobbin, Enzo Barrenechea and Ross Barkley have all joined Villa this summer for over £100m combined.

Having already seen Douglas Luiz, Tim Iroegbunam, Morgan Sanson and Viljami Sinisalo depart, Diaby's proposed £50.5m move to Al Ittihad would go a long way towards helping Villa raise that money back in sales.

Should his move go through, Diaby would join Fabinho, Luiz Felipe, Karim Benzema, Houssem Aouar, N'Golo Kante and Jota at Al Ittihad, who are also in talks to sign Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson.

READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS & GOSSIP FROM AROUND THE WORLD