Aston Villa’s most valuable player has been named, however, it’s not someone many would expect.
Unai Emery saw a host of his players shine over the 2023/24 season, as Aston Villa secured a fourth-place finish in the Premier League.
The Villans will play Champions League football next campaign as a result of their achievements, as several of Emery’s top talents stood out as the club’s best performers.
Now that the season has concluded, Villa’s most valuable player has been identified but not many would agree with the figure selected.
Moussa Diaby named the most valuable Aston Villa player
CIES Football Observatory has revealed the top 100 most valuable players worldwide, with three Villa players making the cut.
Jude Bellingham was crowned the most valuable asset with an estimated transfer value of €280.4m, with the most valuable Villa representative sporting an estimated value of €84.5m.
When revising Villa’s squad, not many would think that Moussa Diaby would be considered as Emery’s prized asset however, the Frenchman is ranked highest by CIES at €84.5 – which translates to £72m.
The other Villa Park representatives in the top 100 are Douglas Luiz at €74.8m (£63.7m) and Ollie Watkins at €73.2m (£62.3m), both falling below Diaby.
Why Diaby being Villa’s most valuable player doesn’t make sense
Still only 24 years old, there is some understanding as to why Diaby is considered one of the most valuable players in the world.
That being said, it would also be difficult to place the £130k-a-week France international among even the top five performers at Villa in the 2023/24 season.
While the winger did contribute to 14 goals in his debut Premier League campaign, via Sofascore, there are other Villa players regarded much higher than Diaby both at the club and expectedly, in the transfer market.
Journalist John Townley described Diaby as a ‘menace’ for showing form in Villa’s Europa Conference League victory over Ajax in March however, there were very few performances that saw the Frenchman earn such praise.
Touching on players that could be considered more valuable at Villa, those that could be placed above Diaby include the likes of, Luiz, Watkins, Leon Bailey, Ezri Konsa and even Jacob Ramsey.
Bailey’s value has rocketed since joining Aston Villa due to his impeccable turnaround of form, while Konsa, Watkins and Luiz have been star performers under Emery.
For Ramsey, the Bodymoor Heath product can be considered perhaps the most valuable to the club based on the pure profit he could one day generate, as well as being just 23 years old.
While it’s not to say that Diaby isn’t deserving of such an expected value, there are Villa players considered more valuable to the club than the 2023 signing based on age, progress and importance to the squad.
