If there’s one thing that always seems to connect an Unai Emery side it’s their togetherness, so news that one of his Aston Villa signings is already courting a European giant isn’t likely to go down well in the corridors of power.
The Spaniard might well be disappointed with the Villain’s showing in the Europa Conference League against Legia Warsaw, however, the fact that they’re back in Europe again has to be taken as a positive.
Emery really has the team playing some sparkling stuff and as long as he’s allowed to continue to build his project, the sky really is the limit.
Moussa Diaby was a superb capture this summer and a debut goal at Newcastle, albeit in a heavy loss, gave a small hint as to what the player is capable of.
His comments to Onze Mondial (h/t Foot Mercato) won’t do him any favours with the club or the Villa Park faithful, however good he is.
“PSG is my formative club. I learned everything there, I spent seven years at the club, I rubbed shoulders with a lot of players. Some are professionals today, others are not. I played my first professional match for PSG. It was a powerful and important moment. I can’t forget that,” he’s quoted as saying.
“It’s the club from the capital, the city where I come from. PSG was a good adventure for me. I had to take a different path reluctantly. To develop my career and progress, I had to leave. By staying at PSG, I would have had less playing time.
“PSG will always be PSG. I’m often told that the fans are thinking about my return. That’s great. It means they haven’t forgotten me. The fans know that I was trained at this club and that I’m ready to give everything for this shirt. It also means that I’m doing good things.
“If I hadn’t been good, they wouldn’t have thought about my return. It’s nice to read and to know. Maybe I’ll be back one day. In any case, PSG will always be in my heart.”
The player is more than likely to plead that his words have been taken out of context, though there’s no doubt he said them. All it does is pile the pressure on him personally to deliver.
From Villa’s perspective they can’t really afford to keep him out of the side given their spend on him, but any further hints at a move back to PSG, or anywhere else for that matter, arguably needs to be met with a heavy hand from Emery.