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.jpg) Diaby withBayer Leverkusen in 2022 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Moussa Diaby[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1999-07-07)7 July 1999 (age 26)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Paris, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Winger,attacking midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Al-Ittihad | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 19 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Espérance Paris 19ème | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2017 | Paris Saint-Germain | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Paris Saint-Germain B | 14 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Paris Saint-Germain | 25 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | →Crotone (loan) | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2023 | Bayer Leverkusen | 125 | (31) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | Aston Villa | 38 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Al-Ittihad | 33 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | France U18 | 11 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | France U19 | 16 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | France U20 | 10 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | France U21 | 12 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021– | France | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:03, 21 November 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 26 March 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
Moussa Diaby (born 7 July 1999) is a French professionalfootballer who plays as awinger orattacking midfielder forSaudi Pro League clubAl-Ittihad and theFrance national team.[3]
Coming from aMalian family, Moussa Diaby began playingfootball at Espérance Paris in the 19th arrondissement, at the Jules-Ladoumègue sports center in the under-10 category, where he remained until the under-14 level.[4] The club president, Morade Djeddi, recalled in September 2021:[4]
His skills have been evident since he was a child. He was already dynamic, tenacious, and skillful... he was just exceptional. His small size didn't matter, we promoted him to higher age groups, especially for cup matches.
He played alongside future professional footballers such asYoussouf Fofana andYahia Fofana.[4][5]
Spotted by several professional clubs, includingParis Saint-Germain, he joined the latter at the age of 13. His small stature initially made it difficult for him to stand out in the lower categories, and he started with the Division d'Honneur team in the under-17 category.[6] Promoted later to the national under-17 team, he became the French champion in this category in 2016.[7] Continuing his good performances the following season, especially in theUEFA Youth League, he was voted Titi d'Or by his training center teammates.[8]
Diaby is a product of theParis Saint-Germain Academy. He joined the club when he was 13 and began playing for the B team in 2017. Diaby was the recipient of the 2016Titi d'Or as the most promising and best talent in the Paris Saint-Germain academy.[9]
In September 2017, at the age of 18, Diaby signed his first professional contract for three years withParis Saint-Germain.[10]
Not used by PSG head coachUnai Emery in the first half of the season and suspended for eight matches due to a foul play in a match for theUnder-19 national league,[11] Diaby resolved to be loaned toCrotone inSerie A during the winter break.[9] He scored a goal and provided an assist in his first match with the reserve team. Present on the bench for the first team in the following weeks, he made his professional debut on 14 April againstGenoa, coming on with eight minutes remaining.[11] Four days later, he started againstJuventus.[11] After a good performance, he did not appear in the last matches of the season.[12]
Missing part of the preparation due to the2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Diaby rejoined Paris Saint-Germain during the summer tour. This gave him the opportunity to play his first matches with the professional team, scoring his first goal in a friendly againstAtlético Madrid and winning the2018 Trophée des Champions, although he did not play in the match. Initially, a new loan toMontpellier orReal Sociedad was considered, but the new Parisian coachThomas Tuchel decided to keep Diaby at the club.[13]
On 14 September 2018, Diaby, who replacedLassana Diarra at halftime, scored for PSG in the 86th minute in a 4–0 win overAS Saint-Étienne.[14] He became the 124th academy graduate to feature for the senior side.
Diaby went on to make 25Ligue 1 appearances in2018–19, scoring four times across all competitions and averaging an assist every 190 minutes during the club's successful title defence.[9]
In June 2019, Diaby was transferred toBayer Leverkusen for 15 million euros excluding bonuses[15] and a resale percentage (20%) for Paris Saint-Germain.[16] After five substitute appearances,[17] the international hopeful played his first match as a starter againstSC Freiburg in November, where he shone with his speed and scored his first goal in Germany during a 1–1 draw.[18] From then on, he became a regular starter inPeter Bosz's team.[18] Ultimately, Diaby scored five goals and provided as many assists during the 2019–20 season, which ended with a fifth-place finish in theBundesliga.[18] Scoring eight goals and providing as many assists in all competitions,[17] Diaby was even voted player of the season by the fans with 26.9% of the votes, ahead of the squad's starKai Havertz.[18] During the summer of 2020, several offers were rejected by the German club's management.[16] At the end of 2020, already under contract until 2024,[19] Diaby extended his contract for an additional season with a salary increase.[20] Since 20 November 2019, the international hopeful had not missed any matches in the Bundesliga.[19] Since his arrival inNorth Rhine-Westphalia, he had accumulated thirteen goals and fourteen assists.[19] The most used player byPeter Bosz in the first half of the 2020–21 season, Diaby had at that point scored four goals, including three in theEuropa League, and five assists, placing him among the most decisive players for Leverkusen, who were leaders of the Bundesliga.[16][verification needed]
By the end of January 2021, Diaby had three goals and four assists in seventeen league starts, as well as a brace in a 4–1 win overEintracht Frankfurt in theDFB-Pokal.[20] He also helped defeatBorussia Dortmund by a score of 2–1 with a goal and an assist.[21] By mid-April, his team was no longer in the title race but was competing for qualification for European competition, and Diaby contributed with an assist and a goal in a 3–0 win against1. FC Köln.[22] In all competitions, he scored ten goals and provided thirteen assists.[23]
At the beginning of September 2021, at the time of his first selection for theFrance national team, Diaby was directly involved in 44 goals (20 goals, 24 assists) in 85 appearances for Leverkusen across all competitions, averaging more than one contribution every two matches.[24] A month later, having been called up for the French team for the second consecutive time, he had three goals and one assist in nine matches for Leverkusen at the start of the 2021–22 season.[5]
On 22 July 2023, Diaby joinedPremier League clubAston Villa for an undisclosed fee, rejecting a move to theSaudi Pro League, which was reported to be aclub-record £51.9 million[25] reuniting with former PSG manager Unai Emery.[26] On 27 July, Diaby scored minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 2–0 pre-season victory overFulham in thePremier League Summer Series in the United States.[27] On 12 August, he scored a goal on his Premier League debut in a 5–1 away defeat againstNewcastle United.[28]
A goal that Diaby scored on 30 March 2024, in a 2–0 victory overWolverhampton Wanderers, was given thePremier League Most Powerful Goal award, after being calculated byOpta to have been traveling at 109.84 km/h at the time it reached the goal – faster than any other goal in the Premier League that season.[29]
On 24 July 2024, after just one season in England, Diaby moved toSaudi Pro League clubAl-Ittihad in a deal reportedly worth around €60 million.[30][31]
Diaby is a France youth international having represented the country atU18,U19,U20, andU21 levels.
He produced a goal and three assists at the2018 UEFA European U19 Championship, earning a place in the team of the tournament.[32] The following summer, he scored one goal and assisted two more in four matches at the2019 FIFA U20 World Cup where France were eliminated at the Round of 16 stage.[9][33]
On 26 August 2021, he received his first call toFrance senior squad.[34] He made his international debut on 1 September 2021 in the2022 FIFA World Cup qualification match againstBosnia and Herzegovina, replacingKylian Mbappé in the last minute of the match.
Diaby was born inParis to a family ofMalian descent.[35][36] He is a Muslim.[37]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Paris Saint-Germain | 2017–18 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018–19 | Ligue 1 | 25 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 4 | |
| Total | 25 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 4 | ||
| Crotone (loan) | 2017–18 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Bayer Leverkusen | 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 28 | 5 | 5 | 2 | — | 6[d] | 1 | — | 39 | 8 | ||
| 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 32 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | 8[e] | 4 | — | 43 | 10 | |||
| 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 32 | 13 | 2 | 0 | — | 8[e] | 4 | — | 42 | 17 | |||
| 2022–23 | Bundesliga | 33 | 9 | 1 | 0 | — | 14[f] | 5 | — | 48 | 14 | |||
| Total | 125 | 31 | 11 | 4 | — | 36 | 14 | — | 172 | 49 | ||||
| Aston Villa | 2023–24 | Premier League | 38 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12[g] | 3 | — | 54 | 10 | |
| Al-Ittihad | 2024–25 | Saudi Pro League | 24 | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 28 | 5 | |||
| 2025–26 | Saudi Pro League | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 5[h] | 1 | 1[i] | 0 | 16 | 3 | ||
| Total | 33 | 7 | 5 | 0 | — | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 8 | |||
| Career total | 223 | 46 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 53 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 306 | 71 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 2021 | 4 | 0 |
| 2022 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 11 | 0 | |
Paris Saint-Germain
Al-Ittihad
France
Individual
